Geronimo Stilton: INTERPOL-The Beginning
by Malaysianpro
Summary: After three years of working part time at Interpol, Geronimo and the gang still haven't captured the person who killed his childhood friend. Me, seeking protection by them is being threatened to be killed by terrorist that wants the chip which is implanted in my head. Some elements of Star Wars & GTA are later in this story. Rated T for violence and mild language. Pls r8 & review!
1. Chapter 1-An Uneasy Feeling

**A/N: Chapter rewritten.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the plot.**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**An Uneasy Feeling**

**Shah Alam, Malaysia**  
**Thursday, August 13, 2013**  
**10.11 a.m. (UTC +8.00)**

I was walking down the street of the neighborhood of a luxurious residential area in the fine morning after a nice long stroll at the local park. The warm sun fed nutrients to the plants as it shone bright across the city of Shah Alam of which I live in, the birds were chirping cheerful melodies in their nests on trees, the air smelt fresh and clean, and everyone I came across smiled at me as we crossed paths.

As I wended my way under a big tree near the sidewalk, my best friend and neighbor, named Firas, called me on my cell. The iPhone was ringing and vibrating in my pocket, so I picked it up. Without making it leave my pocket.

I held a finger on my right temple to answer. "Yeah, bud?" I answered. "Yeah, I will be coming to your place. We're playing GTA 4 today, right? Nice, okay, ciao. I'll see ya in a couple of minutes." I removed the finger to hang up.

This is me. Danial Arif is the name, I'm 13 years old, Malaysian, a multi-billionaire video games developer, iOS software designer at Apple Inc., and philanthropist. All the assets I had were earned by myself after selling millions of copies of my first person shooter game, Fields Of Battle 2: Modern Warfare, and some were inherited to me from the blood, sweat and tears of my father. He was a weapons scientist, creating a smart bullet that will explode near its target if it misses. He died in a car explosion along with my mother and dear sister back in 2011, when the 2011 Los Angeles Weapons Expo was taking place.

I was 5 feet 2 inches tall, had black hair, brown eyes, slightly tanned skin, and I was undergoing some teenage blues as the result of experiencing puberty. Yeah, my voice had been breaking, an Adam's apple was growing on my throat, and zits were surprisingly absent on my face. Strange.

How did I answer the phone without touching it? Don't tell this to other people, my life will be endangered because implanted in my brain is an experimental microchip, created by a British-born Caltech scientists who's name I will not reveal in these early chapters. It allows me to control any form of electronics remotely weather it's near or far, read the thoughts of people, make and answer incoming calls via a smartphone, and a very special power I will also not reveal in early chapters. It could also make me fight when I needed to, make me a very smart kid, and I sometimes misuse it. But I don't use my abilities in public. It was hunted by a man, but the professor won't tell me who.

I reached my house two minutes later, a luxurious estate with a mansion and a garden. The mansion was big as any other mansion, had 8 bedrooms, and all the essentials a mansion should have. But that's only what the topside looks like. Under it is an underground level with multiple rooms, every room for a different occasion. It's where I store my father's inherited weapons, develop my video games, and it has a shooting range which I haven't used in a long time. No one can access those parts but me. Besides that, there's an underground garage the style of a showroom, but I don't keep cars in there. All of my 500+ supercar collection were stored in a storage garage also built underground, it had the area of a soccer field and it was ten stories deep.

As I was saying, I was crossing the street to the house of my friend who lived opposite of my estate. I didn't really need to look left and right because the road was empty! Public holidays are usually when the residents of the neighborhood rest and relax from the pressure of working.

I came to the doorstep of Firas's home after entering the gates, and gave a ring at the doorbell. His parents were actually out of town for business, so he should be the one answering.

The door flung open, behind it was Firas to welcome me. "Danny! What took you so long?" he asked with a relived smile.

"Chill, bro! I was just taking a walk at the park," I answered. "So, we ready to live stream?" I forgot to mention that he had a YouTube channel. He does videos everyday after school.

"You know it! Come in!" He stepped away from the doorway so I could enter.

We went up the stairs to his room, seeing the two Xbox consoles hooked up to two separate computer screens already turned on.

"Alright, we've got five minutes till the live stream and..." His stomach grumbled like a raging monster. I turned back to see if he was okay...

Nope. His body language told me that he was having a stomachache by the way he held his belly and his face was wrinkled up like a prune.

"You okay, dude?" I wondered.

"Not really... Yo, I really need to use the bathroom! My stomach is killing me!" He rushed out the room and along the hallway to the bathroom.

"What have you been eating, man?" I said as I peeped out the doorsill.

"You know how hot my mom's chili can be!" he answered as he halted at the door.

I raised an eyebrow in reaction to his odd appetite. "You ate chili for breakfast?"

"That's the only thing my mom left me to eat before she and my dad left for their trip!" He opened the door to enter but paused. "Plus, her chili is delicious!" He slammed the door shut after going in.

I went back inside the room to wait, when I got a call from the creator of the chip. "Hello? Yes, professor!" I greeted as I held my temple again. The news the he brought was beyond disturbing. It was life-threatening.

"Danial, lock your house down. Shut the windows, lock your doors, don't make any calls, and don't talk to anyone!" he warned.

"Whoa, slow down! What's going on?" I asked.

"Caltech research labs have been breached! They were looking for the chip!"

Immediately, I turned white as if I've seen a ghost.

"Get Interpol General Secretariat on the phone, ask for protection! After that, do NOT contact anyone unless I call you!" he added. Then the line went dead.

Despite all that had happened, I didn't panic. I simply dialed the number of Interpol's General Secretariat, and listened to a couple of beeps before his secretary picked up. "Hello, you've reached the General Secretariat's office. How may I help you?" began the secretary.

"Get the General Secretariat on the line. It's urgent and an emergency!" I demanded.

"Of course. May I know who is speaking?"

"Danial Arif."

* * *

After speaking to the GS and made him understand my situation, Firas came back in from the john just as I got off the line.

"Hey, close that door...and lock it!" I ordered, rushing to the curtains to close them.

"Why? What's wrong?" he questioned.

"Do it!" I imperiously demanded. Out of the pressure, he hurriedly shut the door and pressed the lock.

"Ey, man! What's going on?" he asked again.

"Someone's hunting me down," I stated.

"Who? Why?"

"Who? I don't know. Why? Remember when I moved to California 2011?"

"Yeah. Big move for your dad's presentation of the smart bullet."

"Okay, here's how it went down. Caltech invented a microchip that allows people to remotely control computers. They needed a lab rat, so my father wanted me to follow in his footsteps to enter the world of science and permitted me to get the chip implanted in my head. Are you following what I'm saying?" He nodded, but it seemed fake. "And turn that phone off, someone might be tracking us."

He first took out his iPhone to turn it off then concluded what I had explained. "So, you're a human that has robotic abilities. Long story short, you're a cyborg?"

I immediately answered; "Exactly. And now, some whack job wants to take it and condemn the world with it!"

"Listen man, I am amused by your make-belief story but I don't buy a single thing out of it," he said.

"So you want me to demonstrate, huh? Well I'll show ya..." I turned to the Xbox consoles and held out my hand to channel out the wireless commands out from it to the consoles, popping out a shutdown alert on the screens. I chose 'yes' without laying a finger on any of the controllers, and they both shut down.

I looked back at Firas in the eye with a serious stare as he left his jaw gaped in amazement. "Okay, that was awesome," he commented.

"Don't tell anyone about it, alright? The fate of the world is at stake if the bad guy gets my chip, got that?" I said. He nodded in acknowledgement. "Okay, I'm sorry but we gotta cancel the live stream. I won't be talking to you for a few days for safety's sake, and I've called Interpol General Secretariat to send agents over here to provide protection. Don't be trippin', okay?"

"Sure man, no sweat," he said.

"Alright, gotta go barricade myself in my own house until the agents get here. Ciao!" I said, rushing out of his room.

"Be safe!" he wished.

* * *

**Thea's Perspective**

**Thea's House**  
**9.18 p.m. (11 hours behind, Eastern Standard Time)**

Life as Interpol agents. Ever since the death of Geronimo's childhood friend, we were pledged never to stop trying to catch his murderer no matter what. Oh yeah, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Thea Stilton, a full-time Interpol Special Agent, a special correspondent for the Stilton Media Group, and the sister of Geronimo Stilton.

As I was saying, it had been three years since the tragic death of Geronimo's dear friend. His murderer has been identified, all we had to do was find and arrest him. The problem is, he hasn't shown up in the world ever since.

At the moment, I was still at my place, holding a bowl of popcorn in my arms as I walked to the living room from the kitchen. What was the occasion? That night was when New Mouse City's soccer team, the NMC Squeakers were playing in the finals of the Mouse Island Soccer League against San Mousisco FC. I took a seat on the couch in front of the flatscreen TV, turning it on and just in time when they were about to sing the New Mouse City anthem.

I stood up in respect of the anthem and set the popcorn bowl on the coffee table next to my white iPhone. That was the moment when it rang. Caller ID, Geronimo.

I picked it up and answered. "G, you're interrupting the anthem," I started.

"I'm really sorry to distract you with the soccer game, but I need you to pack your bags and meet me and the others at Angorat International Airport, ASAP. We have an urgent call," Geronimo squeaked solemnly. His tone sounded serious.

I knew that tone. It was his 'agent' tone. "How urgent?" I asked to reconfirm, dropping my voice down an octave.

"Interpol urgent," he answered.

From the declaration, I knew that we were assigned a new mission. "I'm on my way," I said.

I hung up, turned the flatscreen off, quickly stuffed everything I could into a small carry on. Toothbrush, night dress, everyday outfit, all the essentials I need. I zipped up my black motorcycle jacket and put on my pink helmet.

I went down to the garage where I stored my pink Ducati Desmosedici RR superbike. I mounted my carry on on to the luggage rack at the back of the motorcycle and tied it with the straps so it wouldn't fall off, climbed on, started the engine, and kicked the stand up. To warm it up while the garage door was still rolling up, I revved the engine with a few twists of the throttle. And when it was completely opened, I revved to max and released the clutch into first gear, burning out off the garage and into the streets of New Mouse City.

* * *

**Angorat International Airport**  
**9.25 p.m.**

I entered the terminal through the automatic doors, seeing the space inside brightly lit with white light. Mice were walking here and there, outside the terminal and inside to either catch a flight or to get a cab. Between those mice, I noticed my family and Pandora, as well as Professor Von Volt grouping up in the middle of an empty spot in the terminal, holding the handles of their carry on luggage. While dodging other busy mice, I scampered to join them.

The first mouse from the group to notice me was Geronimo himself, and greeted me as a gentlemouse he always was. "Thea! Glad you could make it," he started in his serious tone. "You're just in time for the briefing."

"So, what's all of this about?" I asked, putting my arms akimbo.

"Just about twenty minutes ago, more or less, I received a call from the General Secretariat of Interpol. Caltech's research lab was infiltrated a few hours ago, and security cameras have identified a few people, one of them was him."

Benjamin bulged out his eyes in shock. "Williams is back?"

"With an army I'm afraid. With his worldwide recruits, he's became even powerful than when we last encountered him. He's now the leader of his own terrorist organization, which he calls as 'The Technologists'. Now, he's after a microchip that he failed to obtain at Caltech, the place where it was created. Right now, that chip is implanted in the brain of 13-year old video game developer, Danial Arif."

Pandora was next to be surprised. "Wait, THE Danial Arif? The guy who is the same age as me and Benjamin who also designs the iOS?"

"Correct, my dear mouseling," clarified Geronimo. He then shifts to Benjamin, who's face was looking quite more disturbed. "Benjamin, I know he's a personal friend of yours because you looked more unsettled than the others."

"How'd you know?" he questioned.

"You don't think that I use Facebook very often, do you?" Geronimo replied. Benjamin shook his head. "I checked your timeline, and among all the people you were friends with, one of them was Danial Arif himself."

"And how long have you been doing this without inviting us?" Trap asked, sounding annoyed.

"2011, before he was known globally," replied the young mouse, smiling awkwardly.

"Okay, back to the topic," I interrupted. "How significant and dangerous is this chip? And what are its abilities?"

"Very significant indeed. I was briefed that it allows a human being, possibly mice as well, the power to control any electronic device like Benjamin's Ben Pad without physically touching it. He is the world's second unknown cyborg by having the experimental chip, the first being Professor Kevin Warwick. The Technologists are hunting this piece of tech for unknown reasons, but just imagine the possible destruction it could cause in the wrong paws. Or hands, in this matter."

"So what's our mission?" Pandora asked.

"Obviously to protect Danial Arif at all cost, and to hunt and bring down Williams once and for all," Geronimo answered.

"But how did he knew that Interpol was the one to call?" I wondered.

"Apparently someone had told him to, but we have no idea who he is. Or, him being told by Benjamin that he was an Interpol operative, Interpol was the first thing that popped up in his mind."

"So, we're all going to be staying at his place?" I asked again.

"On the contrary, Thea, I think YOU should protect him," he corrected, placing his paws behind his back.

I was baffled. "Me?" I exclaimed.

"Yes, Thea," he agreed with a smile. "I've been watching you with Benjamin lately, and whenever he's feeling down, you'd always find a way to cheer him up. I concluded that you had a good way with children. And remember, Danial Arif is also an orphan. So, whenever he's mourning over his parents, you could do the same to him," he explained.

"I...guess you have a point," I said.

"Now that's settled, here's the plan when we land in Malaysia. Do NOT hire a cab. Interpol has shipped two of the agency's Dodge Chargers by air as we squeak to the country for us to get around. So, as decided, Thea, you will go DIRECTLY to the residence of Danial Arif while the rest of us will go to our hotel where we'll be staying, and we'll be stationed at Interpol's Malaysian headquarters to track down every of Williams' moves."

Then the announcer calls us in to board our flight. "Attention to the Interpol agents who will be flying to Malaysia, you are needed to report yourselves at the airfield entrance in the west of the terminal, your private jet is waiting to take off."

"We're taking a private jet?" Trap squeaked.

"Yes, Trap. We are," Geronimo said. "Now, I want all of us to give everything we've got into capturing Williams once and for all, and to not let Danial Arif fall into his hands. Whatever happens, we do our best." We all nodded in agreement. "Let's get a move on. Our new adventure awaits."

We boarded the jet, and flew off to Malaysia.


	2. Chapter 2-Welcome to Malaysia!

**A/N: The chapter when Thea and the gang arrive in Malaysia. A little crappy, but I'll try to make it better. But still, enjoy! P.S., Chapter is completely Renamed and rewritten. **

**Disclaimer**

**I don't own Dodge or the Charger, they are registered trademarks of General Motors. The PS90 is a registered and patented firearm model of FN Herstal.**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**Meeting The Guardian**

**Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Sepang, Malaysia.**

**Friday, August 14. 12.00 p.m. (Local time)**

**Thea's perspective**

After a few hours later, we touch-downed on the runway, officially landing on Malaysian soil. It was hoped that Geronimo stuck to the landing and didn't feel terrified or experienced nausea, and thank Gouda he did. We stepped down the jet and walked on the tarmac of the airfield to the terminal entrance, being blown by winds. The sun was on top of our heads scorching hot as ever, at the same time, dark rain clouds covered the sky a few miles away, and we were lucky enough not to be extremely jet lagged.

"Search for the imported cars in the arrivals section! They should have arrived a while ago!" Geronimo informed, shouting because of the loud turbine noise as they moved to the terminal entrance.

"Have you got the keys?" I asked, shouting as well.

"They're in my pocket, hold on a sec," he said, reaching into his jacket pocket. He got a set and handed them to me. "Here!"

"How will we know how to get to our places?" I wondered again.

"The GPS is programmed with the coordinates to our destinations. All we have to do is drive to where it tells us to."

After speed walking across the terminal, we exited the arrival doors, seeing the white and red Dodge Chargers we were meant to drive parked directly at the road in front of the doors. Both had New Mouse City Interpol plates.

I pressed the alarm key to unlock the doors of my car and to know which car was mine, which was the red Charger. I popped the trunk open by pressing a button on the alarm keys and I set my pink compact carry on into it, then slamming it shut.

After the others did the same, we pulled out of the scene and activated our GPS system so it could guide us where to go. As briefed, I will protect, and the rest will handle The Technologists.

* * *

**Arif Mansion, 1.25 p.m.**

**My perspective**

My guardian had arrived after Interpol informed me an hour and a half ago when they landed in Malaysia. Agent Geronimo Stilton called, said that his sister, Thea will look after me. I saw her at my front gates as I looked out the living room window, stopping at my first line of defense, the spike strips. I assumed that she saw them by the way she stopped her Dodge Charger suddenly. I decide to call the car's built-in phone to get confirmation with the use of my microchip.

"Special Agent Thea Stilton?" I asked.

"Yes, this is Special Agent Thea Stilton," he answered. "Is that you Mr. Arif?"

"Yes, it's me. Sorry about the spike strips. I couldn't allow strangers to come to my home. But I'm familiar with you, so come on in. Park your car inside my garage." Then she drove in, onto my dirt-paved road in the front yard, after I deactivated the spikes of course.

The road split into two at a junction. One lead to the front door at a roundabout with a fountain in the middle of it, and the other road led to a dead end, used as a flower patch.

The garage as said in the last chapter, was underground. The entrance to it was the dead end road. She looked around as the road of the dead end began to sank, revealing a part of my garage inside. "Is that the garage?" Thea asked to confirm.

"Yeah, it is. Just drive into it," I resolved. And so, she drove in.

Arrows on the floor of the garage lead her to the guests' parking space. A spinning turntable. I came down from the elevator to welcome her to my home and assist her in any way I can.

She got out of her car and greeted me in sight. "Hello Mr. Arif! I'm Special Agent Thea Stilton! It's a pleasure to meet you!" We shook hands.

"It's a pleasure to meet you to Agent Stilton. And please, call me Danny," I said.

"Whoa , I did not expect such deep voice from you." Yes dear reader, I am a 13 year old whose voice is extremely deep for my age because of puberty. I'm turning 14 in the 31st. I'm also a little bit shorter than Thea.

"Glad you noticed, and do consider me as a friend, if you will," I insisted.

"Anyway, you can call me Thea," she said. "I did a background check on you and I found out that your father had inherited to you some weapons for you to use when you're old enough. You don't happen to have some here, do you?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. All of them are stored in the armory."

"Great, I'll have my brother to get a court order for you to carry a gun in public for your own self defense. It is illegal to own a gun in this country under the age of 18 right?"

"In some cases it's legal to own guns in the age of 16. It is illegal for civilians to own full-auto guns though."

"Good. I'm going to call Geronimo."

While she was talking to her brother, I wondered why my dad owned full-auto guns when we lived at America. He brought them back here to Malaysia. Strange, how did they get past the customs? Meh, never mind.

"Well, you want to see your room or what? J-Son!" I called. By the way, it's pronounced 'Jason'. It stands for 'Japanese-Security Online'. He's my smart home system. Programmed by me, with a little help from my Japanese friends of course. He speaks in a British accent.

"Sir?" J-Son answered.

"Would you take Agent Stilton's luggage to her room?"

"Of course, sir," he answered. He opened a little door next to the elevator as Thea got her compact pink carry on from the trunk. I told her to put it in the small space, and assured her that it would be in her room.

I took her back upstairs to the dining room so we could have lunch since it was in the afternoon. Then I took her on a tour around the house that took the whole day. Finally, I took her to her room, where she could settle in and rest.

"This is it, your room. Hope it's awesome for you," I said to impress. It looked I took her breath away, by the way she walked to every edge of the room. "If you need me, I'll be in my room, taking care of things."

"And if you need ME, I'll be in MY room," she answered, claiming the room to herself as she looked around.

* * *

**7.00 p.m.**

It was seven. I was busy fixing up dinner in the kitchen as Thea was busy communicating with Geronimo through FaceTime in the living room. In the kitchen, noises of steam, boiling broth filled my ears as I stirred a pot of tomato sauce for the pasta. All the herbs and spices made the cooking smelled so good, and it may have attracted Thea to the kitchen as she showed up beside me.

"Look what we have here!" she squeaked in reaction. "I never knew you could cook!"

"And despite all my press conference appearances, there's actually a lot of things you don't know about my personal life," I replied, closing the pot with a lid to let it boil.

"So who taught you?" she asked as we went to sit on the bar stools at the counter.

"Well," I paused to climb onto the stool, "the interest came to me when I just turned 11. My folks forgot to get a birthday cake, so they replaced it with something else. My mom cooked me my first plate of pasta. I've never tried pasta before that, so I'd give it a taste test. She said it was also her first time making pasta, and said she can't guarantee how it tasted. The second that string of pasta smothered in tomato sauce touched my tongue, it changed my life. I enjoyed it with my eyes closed and said: 'ma, this is absolutely delicious. I love it. Can you teach me how?' That was when I learnt how to cook, and every new recipe she acquired, I'd ask her to teach me how to cook it myself. Ever since then, I'd cook for the family every once in a while."

"If it wasn't for her, I couldn't be independent right now. I owe it to her, and I wish I could repay her back," I added, starring at the deep space.

"She sounds like a great mother," Thea commented.

"She was. You know, if she were alive today, I'd be celebrating her 42nd birthday last November the same way she did when I turned 11." I started to sound sorrow, but my mood was changed when the egg timer I set had rang. The sauce was done.

I got off my seat and took off the lid, it was bubbling as steam floated up. I turned off the stove and took a sniff. "Perfection..." I said. "Thea, grab a plate from the top cabinet for me, would ya? The pasta sauce is done."

"Can't you reach it?" she joked as she got off her stool.

"I'm five-foot-three, Thea. I can't reach anything past ten inches of my own height," I replied.

"Alright, alright..."

We had some discussions over our pasta dinner. This was one of them.

"Hey Danny," Thea began after swallowing her food.

"Yeah?" I responded.

"Geronimo briefed me that you were being hunted down because of the microchip in your head. He said that it could control electronics remotely."

"True," I agreed, scooping a mouthful into my mouth. "I'll demonstrate, take out your phone." She got her iPhone out of her pocket and set it on the counter. "Watch closely," I said. I gestured three fingers at the phone and channeled out commands from the chip in my head. I made the phone to unlock its screen, swipe the home screen pages left and right, activated the Settings app, and adjusted the volume.

"That's pretty cool," she commented with an amused smile.

"It takes the fun out of everything though. I got bored of the powers in a year since I got them. But I still use them every once in a while."

"How did you get rich so fast then?"

"There's a program that the creator of the chip made so that uploads all knowledge into my chip, then it sends it to the brain if the one in the chip gets lost. By that, I could understand everything. I had an interest for gadgets and video games, so I started to work with major electronics companies like Microsoft and Apple Inc. I currently work at Apple as a the designer of the iOS as you might know. Plus, the first person shooter games that I sold made billions more. And, my father was a weapons scientist that made him rich. So when he passed away, all of his fortune got inherited to me."

"So with the knowledge, have you invented stuff?" again she asked, chewing up her pasta.

"There is one, you see that thing on the far side of the counter?" I reached it and picked it up. It had a screen as big an iPhone and it had two electrodes on top.

"What is that?"

I picked the device up and held it. "This is a cloner. As the name implies, it clones stuff. Let me demonstrate. I'll clone that coffee mug."

"How does it work?"

"Well, it first scans all the molecules that make the coffee mug. Then it make copies of those molecules and it reconstructs itself," I explained as I scanned the mug to get a 3D image, then cloner reconstructed the mug. "I don't use it often, only on situations when an item is not enough for a number of people."

"Do you plan to release it for industrial use?" Thea asked.

"No way. I know it will help save the planet and all, but greed can lead people to misuse this piece of technology. Imagine if civilians got there hands on it and taking it home. They can clone their own crisp $100 bills for themselves. And you know how much damage a country's economy could suffer only by money laundering."

"Fair point," she said.

Just like that, her first day in Malaysia has ended. To avoid sleeping in, Thea went to bed a few minutes after having her dinner. I stayed a little bit late to secure the house perimiter. And before I turned in, I was still wondering if the car had already left. Because on the street outside my estate, a peculiar blue Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X FQ-400 was parked since 5 in the afternoon, and the driver never came out. As a safety precaution, I've put an FN PS90 personal defense weapon on my bedside table before turning out the lights.


	3. Chapter 3-He Got Away

**A/N: Chapter edited.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own some of the characters in this story or any other copyrights or trademarks.**

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**The One That Got Away**

**Saturday - August 15, 2013**  
**0159 hours**

Suddenly at the dead of night, a sound of broken glass woke me up. Apparently, it woke up Thea too. I stuck my head out of my room with my PS90. Thea came out with her SIG pistol in her hands.

"You heard that?" I asked her.

"I sure did. It came from the kitchen," she squeaked. I gave her a confused look anr questioned about her 9mm-caliber pistol.

"What's with the SIG?"

"What's wrong with it?"

"Many disadvantages that I could say right now, but it's not the time. Hold on," I went back in to get something. "Use this rifle."

"A Bushmaster ACR Civilian model, thanks." She kept her SIG on her waist and we pulled our gun's cocking levers which chambered a round and went downstairs to investigate. We found out that one of my $250 drinking glasses broke and there was signs of struggle everywhere. Pots and pans were on the floor, cooking equipment was out of place, and found the intruders escape route. The window. We went out through the front door just in time to see that he or she had already started to drive away on the courtyard.

"Hey, Stop!" I shouted. But the driver didn't (obviously), so we fired a spray rounds to his/her car. Unfortunately, we ran out of ammunition and non of the shots popped a single tire.

"Cheeses!" Thea shouted in frustration. She pulled out her iPhone out of her pocket and called Geronimo on speed dial. Heheh, I kinda invaded privacy and ended up using my enhanced hearing to hear what The conversation was about.

"Hello, Geronimo? Someone just broke into the house. I need a BOLO on a blue Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X FQ-400. A broken rear windshield and it's covered in bulletholes. We had to! How else should we stop him. Yeah, but he's okay. The suspect didn't return fire. Oh, I need forensics here too. Okay, thanks. Bye."

While she was busy talking to Geronimo, I examined one of my first line of security, the spike strips. If you don't remember back in chapter 2, it automatically deploys itself after scanning a vehicle that is not in my 'allowed vehicles database'. The scanner sits a little back of the spike strips.

"The team's on their way here to investigate. Can you provide anything to help us?" But i ignored her, making her wonder what I was investigating. "Watcha looking at Danny?" she asked.

"I don't understand. Why didn't the spike strips deploy?" I said.

"Maybe someone bypassed your security coding and disabled them?"

"There's a possibility, but my firewalls are real thick. Not even the toughest supercomputers in the world combined could penetrate or find another way to get past my security coding."

She posed with her arms akimbo and took a moment to think. Then she looked around, trying to find something. "Have you got any cameras around here?"

"Plenty. That reminds me, why didn't J-Son alarm me when there was an intruder in the house?"

"Let's go ask him," Thea suggested.

So we went back inside while carrying the guns as if we were gangsters and asked Jason while we waited for the forensics to arrive.

"J-Son!" I shouted. Then he immediately went back online. That's strange, I never turn him off. _Never_.

"Sir! I'm sorry that I have to inform you that there was an intruder in the house!"

"We know that J-Son, he got away," Thea squeaked.

"Why were you offline? I never turned you off," I said.

"That's what I was about to ask you sir. I was looking after the house until suddenly I blacked out," J-Son explained.

"What? Did someone used a jammer on you?"

"I'm afraid yes sir."

"So you don't have the footage from the security cameras?"

"I'm sorry sir, the cameras were also jammed so I don't have them."

"Damn it!" I screamed, stomping my foot.

"What are we gonna do?" asked Thea.

"It's up to you guys to find out now," I turned to her.

* * *

45 minutes later, another Dodge Charger drove up into the gates of my property. It was a silver one. After it's lights and engine were turned off, the driver and the passengers stepped out, which was the whole Stilton family. They were wearing Interpol Forensic's jackets, and had pistols carried in their holsters just in case.

"Geronimo Stilton! I'm a big fan of your books!" I started. "It's great to finally meet you in person! Call me Danny," I greeted as he and his team went to the back to get their forensic kits.

He walked up to me after grabbing the kit. "Special Agent Geronimo Stilton. It's great to finally meet you too." Formally, we shook hands like gentlemen.

"So, how's the BOLO?" said Thea who came from behind me, getting her sweater from inside.

"Benjamin already requested one from the police while on the way here. Haven't got the results yet, though."

"And the court order?" asked the sister again.

"I already informed the local police about that. Danny, I'd like you to meet my team before we go collecting evidence. I'm sure you're very familiar with them after reading my books." Thea then directed her brother to his first scene to be investigated.

And speaking of familiar, one of the 'characters' of G's books had been one of my best friend since 2011. Geronimo's nephew himself.

"Benjamin!" I called, raising my arms.

"Danny! It so good to see each other again," he said as we did our signature handshake. He was a lot taller than the last time I met him. He's a few months younger than me.

"How's it been after two years?"

"It's been good. And I got promoted to Junior Special Agent!"

"Whoa! Now you're Junior Special Agent Benjamin Stilton. How'd you manage to get promoted?

"Stopping an international serial killer with a defensive shot on the head."

"So the shooting training I gave you really paid off?"

"It really did. I better join Uncle Geronimo. Catch up with you later!"

Last but not least, Pandora and Trap. Pandora carried two forensic kits. They looked heavy. Anyway, those two were still discussing about what happened to The Technologists.

"What do you think happened to them?" Pandora said.

"I don't know. Rumors say that they already arrived in Malaysia," Trap replied.

"I hope not..." she denied.

I was standing in front of them cross armed. "Let me guess, Pandora Woz and Trap Stilton, am I right?"

"How'd you guess our names?" Trap asked.

"You, I know. Benjamin told me every detail about your pranks," I answered. "Better join your cousin before he flips out and slaps you on the head like he did in April Fools," he nodded and quickly marched away. Left alone was Pandora Woz. She looked lovely under the light of my spotlight when it shined over her. Since she's the same age as Benjamin, she's 13 too.

"You need help with those?" I asked.

"Yup, I'm Pandora Woz, forensic specialist," she put the kits down and we shook hands.

"Let's go inside. The kitchen is filled with fingerprints."

The kitchen, where I cook from my mom's recipes is totally trashed. Completely. Geronimo had Pandora and Trap processing the scene while Thea, Benjamin and himself investigated the courtyard.

"Whoa... What happened in here?" said Trap upon entry of the messy kitchen.

"To be honest, i have no idea," I replied

Outside, Geronimo, Thea and Benjamin got lots of clues. Tire tracks, shoe prints and shell casings from our guns are some of the things they found. The casings were collected to match them with the bullets that hit the suspect's car (if Benjamin can find it on the local police department's database).

"Hmm... This is weird. Hey Geronimo! Come look at this," called Thea.

"What is it Thea?" Geronimo said.

"When Danny and I went out to chase the suspect there was only one car. But here, there's two different tire tracks. One with a tread and one without a tread," she explained.

"You think that's weird? Come check this out!" Benjamin shouted from the kitchen window.

"What did you find Benjamin?" Thea asked.

"I've got two sets of shoe prints, one with a pattern, one without a pattern," he stated.

"Hmm... Pandora! What have you and Trap found?" Geronimo asked through the window.

"I overheard your conversation and we got a couple of blood drops," she replied.

"So from the tracks and shoe pattern, doesn't this mean that we have to look for two people?" I interrupted.

"But why travel in a separate car? Can't they just share a ride?" Thea stated.

"Maybe they hate working each other," I theorized.

"What about the kitchen?" said Geronimo.

"What about it?" I said.

"I mean, why is it trashed?" he said.

"Like I said, they hate each other, and maybe they couldn't stand one another, they fought in here, one of them walked away, and both of them chased after themselves," again, I theorized.

"Actually, that's not a bad theory," Benjamin said.

"Thank you," I said. "Pandora, you said you found blood drops?"

"I did, why?" she asked.

"Can I have a pair of gloves Trap?" I requested. Then I put them on and went to the knife holder.

"Just as I thought, I bloody... knife," I said. "Pandora bag this for me, will you?"

"Sure," she took the knife and put in the evidence bag.

"Now all we have to do is take all the clues back to the lab and analyze 'em," said Trap.

"You want us to help you clean up the kitchen or anything?" offered Geronimo.

"N-n-no, it's fine. I can do that in the morning. I just want *yawn* to go back to bed," I said.

"So do I," Thea said from the outside.

"Okay then, we'll leave you two to rest. Thea, if anything happens, call me," ordered Geronimo.

"Roger that," she replied.

So we went back inside, I walked past the TV to turn it off. I forgot to do so when I joined in the team's conversation. I don't need the remote because the chip does it all. Anyway, the TV was on channel CNN and it gave us bad news.

_"Breaking news, we just received news that a car bombing incident has happened in the center of the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur. Happened at 1.34 a.m. local time, a car parked near a government building suddenly exploded. 3 people were seriously injured. According to the Malaysian Minister of Defense, this was surely an act of terrorism as Interpol already informed them that the terrorist group, 'The Tecnologists' terrorism activities are..."_ I stopped listening to the 90 inch smart TV when Thea walked through the doorway.

"Danny, what's wrong?" she asked.

"This is bad... This is really bad... They're already here," I said.

"The Technologists?" she replied.

"Yes. J-Son, enable the bulletproof windows and walls, now!" I ordered.

"I'll go get Geronimo," she said and went out the door. Good thing the team never left. They were still packing up. "G, hold up!"

"Thea?" he started as Thea ran towards him.

"Geronimo, we've got some bad news. The Technologists are already in the country," Thea stated.

"What?!" exclaimed Geronimo.

"When we were on our way to bed, CNN reported of a bombing of a car at Kuala Lumpur," she said. "I need you to get a court order so that Danny can carry full auto weapons in public."

"I'll see what what I can do. In addition to that, I'm going to double up on security by assigning guards armed with M4s at the front gate," he added.

"Good idea," Thea nodded. "Now, I'm going to go back to bed if you don't mind. Good night."

"Good night Thea," replied Geronimo.

* * *

**0500 hours**

After sleeping well for three whole hours, I woke up from a dream where the leader of The Technologists pointing a gun to my head while I was pinned down. I woke up when the moment he pulled the trigger in shock and sweatiness. I tried to go back to sleep but whatever I tried I couldn't. I tossed and turned on my bed for 10 minutes. So I decided to go downstairs and went to the kitchen for a glass of milk.

"Sir? What are you doing at this time of night?" asked J-Son.

"I couldn't sleep, so I got here to get a glass of milk," I answered.

"Are you still worried sir?" he asked again.

"I am," I answered while pouring milk into a glass.

"Should I suggest you to continue working on your special melee weapon sir?" he asked again.

"I totally forgot about that! J-Son, your a genius!" I said as I gulped down the milk to the last drop.

"Should I tell Special Agent Stilton about this?" he asked again.

"No, not yet, but I'll tell her soon," I said. "When she wakes up, tell her that I'll be in the armory and tell her not to disturb me because I'll be 'in the zone'. I'll be staying up all morning..." I said.

"Don't forget to take your morning shower first," J-son reminded.

"...after I take my morning shower," I said. "Thanks for reminding me J-Son!"

"You're welcome sir," said J-Son.

And so, after that fresh, cold glass of milk, I went to the elevator to go underground and continued working my special melee weapon all morning.

* * *

**0835 hours - About 3 hours later**

"Danny! Danny? Where could he be?" shouted Thea. "Jason, have you seen Danny anywhere? I need to clean my SIG pistol and forgot to bring along the cleaning kit. I was going to ask him if he has one."

"He is in the armory..." said Jason.

"Great! Just where I needed to go," she said as she walked straight to the elevator.

"...Agent Stilton, wait! He doesn't want to be disturbed at the moment," J-Son warned.

"Why?" Thea asked.

"Because he said he is 'in the zone', I will inform him that you wanted to see him," he said.

"Okay then, how long has he been in there?" she asked.

"Since 5 in the morning," he answered.

"Really? That long?" she wondered.

"He wakes up at 5 a.m. every morning, Agent Stilton," he stated.

"Ooo...kay, so I'll be in the kitchen making breakfast for both of us," she said.

The kitchen was a mess after last night. So she decided to clean it all up. Actually, we planned that we both would clean up the kitchen together. But since I was busy and not aware that she was already awake, she did it herself. I really wanted to help, but like I mentioned just now, well- you get the picture.

So, I stopped building my weapon about half an hour later to have breakfast with Thea. I stepped out of the elevator, looking tired in my morning outfit. Then I looked at the dining table. Looks like she filled it with my mother's recipes.

"Sniff, mmmm... Something smells good," I said. "Thea did you cook all this?"

"Yes, yes I did," said Thea as she took a sip from a cup of melted cheddar.

"Wow, they smell like how my mom used to make," I stated.

"I found your mom's recipe book on the counter, so I thought I'd cook something for you," she said.

"Thanks Thea, you want some milk?" I asked.

"No thanks, I already have cheddar," she said.

"Wow! you cleaned the kitchen too? I thought we were going to do that together," I said as I grabbed the milk carton from the fridge.

"Since you were busy, I figured that we couldn't finish in time if I waited for you, so I thought I'd clean it up by myself," said Thea.

"Thea, you didn't have to do all this," I said as I sat down at the table.

"Of course I did," said Thea.

"I guess, you really are a true friend," I agreed.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yes, yes you are," I said as I sat down. "Let's see what your French toast and scrambled eggs taste like," I tasted it and it was delicious. "Mmm... Just like how mom used to make!"

"I'm glad you like it," she said.

"I haven't had breakfast with another person like this in years, it feels so different now," I said.

"In a good way or a strange way?" she asked.

"A good way. All this time, it's just been me and Jason in this house," I stated.

"No friends?" asked Thea.

"Before you came, my neighbor across the street, Firas goes to my house every once in a while, there's also Benjamin when we're video chatting on Facebook secretly from you guys, Jason and the cars, that's it, no one else," I listed. "Oh, there's also Professor Graham Phillips, the man who created the chip."

"What about family?" The moment she asked that my heart broke.

"They, moved to a new life at 2011 in a car accident, if you know what I mean," I said in sorrow.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that..." she said.

"No-no, it's-it's okay," I stammered. "I moved on like they did, I started a new life, and now here I am," I said. Suddenly, Thea's iPhone rang. The caller ID read: Geronimo Stilton with his face wearing black shades. He looks good in them.

"Hi Geronimo," said Thea.

"Thea, I need you to get here, we've got the BOLO results," he informed.

"We'll be right there," said Thea. "C'mon Danny, Geronimo needs us at HQ."

"I'm gonna get changed," I said as I grabbed my plate and put it in the dishwasher.

Before going to the garage, I got dressed in my usual style, wearing blue jeans, a t-shirt on the inside and a button shirt on the outside, which I left unbuttoned.

So I went to the garage, and started Thea's Charger. Just in time, Thea showed up from the elevator looking ready as usual.

"Do you have your gun with you?" asked Thea.

"I've got my H&amp;K USP45 with 3 extra mags," I answered as I showed her the weapon.

"Good, let's roll," she said.

* * *

**Interpol Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur**

The traffic was slow at the highways, but we managed to arrive on time. At HQ, finding a parking space was a breeze because the parking lot was almost empty. Thea found a space next to Geronimo's car. We got out and went in the building and headed straight to the elevator.

At the bullpen, everyone was asleep at their desks except Geronimo, who held a cup of coffee in his hand and looked fresh and active.

"Hi Geronimo, you're up and early," I greeted.

"I know I'm not a morning mouse, but considering my responsibility, I decided to do so," he said.

"So, the BOLO?" asked Thea. "And which team's bullpen is this?"

"It's a bullpen designated for guest agents, my dear sister. Setting up shop at an occupied bullpen is certainly unmannered," he responded. "Anyway, the police found footage of the blue FQ-400 on a security camera at a gas station. They sent the footage to us and with the help of Benjamin's photo enhancing software, we were able to see the license plates and track the car down. It was registered to a-" he was cut off by Benjamin who was awaken from his slumber.

"Fernando Martinez, originally an illegal immigrant who got into the United States by outrunning the country's border patrol's speedboat," he explained, "but admits that he was born somewhere in Upstate New York. He was given a green card and now an American citizen, and bought a place here in Malaysia last year. He had money troubles back when he was still living at America, but finally managed to pay all his debts by winning $5 million in a lottery. Also back in America, he got arrested for driving while intoxicated for several times and assault and battery," Benjamin explained.

"As I was saying, his car is bought and registered in this country with Malaysian plates and we found his current home address but when the police went to his house to make an arrest, he nor the car wasn't there."

"What about the blood sample from the knife?" I asked.

"Pandora should have them by now, she's at the lab," said Geronimo. "Do you mind getting results for me?"

"Not at all, which way is it? Oh never mind, I already got the building's schematics in my head. It's underground, right?" I asked Geronimo.

"Yes," he answered.

"I'll be on my way then, see you guys later!" I said as I scampered my way to the elevator.

Underground, the lab wasn't that far. It was next to the interrogation room. The lab Pandora was using was the one for guests to use only. The door was left wide open, so I entered and saw that she was sleeping on her swivel chair while wearing a zip-up sweater backwards as a blanket. I also heard the computer beeping from the fingerprint and blood sample results. I gave a knock on the door to wake her up.

"Rise and shine, Pandora," I said.

"Good morning Danny," she replied. "*yawn* What time is it?"

"A quarter past nine, you and the team missed half the morning," I said. Then I looked at the computer screen. "That was fast."

"What was fast?" asked Pandora.

"The results, it usually takes 16 hours for results to show up on a computer like this, but it's only been six or more hours," I said.

"Since Interpol is an international agency, we use a computer that's fast as 20 supercomputers to get the results faster," she explained.

"It's a good piece of tech, I must say," I said. "So the blood on the floor and on the knife belonged to Martinez, who tried to kill him?

"The person who tried to kill Martinez did a really good job, he wore gloves and jammed your security system to avoid being identified. But I have a hunch," said Pandora.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"His name is Brock Russell, a spy for hire. Born in England in 1974, He's in Interpol's most wanted list for multiple espionage charges in the past five years, but we never managed to get him into custody. When he was a teenager, he worked with car stealing syndicate. When he got arrested, he was sentenced to 6 years of jail. His MO when starting an espionage job is he always drives a stolen car to avoid being tracked down, but he only does that to leave his fingerprints," she explained.

"So let me guess, he doesn't care if he's identified, he just wants to get the job done for the money because he never gets caught," I theorized.

"Exactly, and only after the job's done, he'll leak all information on the terrorist group he works with by informing us through a phone call. He does that just to show that he's good at escaping law enforcement. But every time we try to trace his call, he disappears because he uses burn phones. He's known by terrorists as 'The Terror-traitor' and 'The Double Agent," she explained as Russell's teenage mugshot and stats appeared on the computer screen.

"And assuming that he is and still working with The Technologists-" I left the sentence for Pandora to finish.

"It'll be harder to get info from him, IF we can get him," she continued.

"We better get this to Geronimo. Believe me, I read his mind and he doesn't want to wake up early for nothing," I said as I made a hand gesture.

"Good idea, I don't want him to get mad again, you won't like him when he gets mad," she stated.

So we went back upstairs to explain what Pandora had found to the team. Good thing everyone was awake, they'll miss the info if they did otherwise.

"We still have one complication though, we can't track down Martinez or his car," Benjamin said.

"Maybe I can help," I offered.

"How?" asked Benjamin.

"Because every FQ-400 Evo has a built in GPS, I can track down his car using his GPS coordinates. If we're lucky enough to see that he's using it, maybe we can get his current location," I explained.

"That could work, why haven't I thought of it before?" said Benjamin excitedly.

"Okay then, I need you guys to be quite for a while, this wont take long," I said. I put two fingers on my right temple to focus myself, then I got all the vital stats of Martinez's car to find out what company manufactures his FQ-400's GPS system. Then I searched the car's VIN number on the GPS satellites and got his coordinates.

"I got him!" I shouted.

"Where is he?" asked Trap.

"The country's capital, Kuala Lumpur," I said.

"I need something more specific than that, Danny. Any landmarks?" Geronimo asked.

"Yes, he's on the move to the Petronas Twin Towers," I answered.

"What's he going to do there?" asked Thea.

"I don't know, but we better get there, before he does something bad," I worried.

"Guys, grab your gear. We've got a terrorist to catch," said Geronimo.

"Can I come?" I asked.

"No. You and Thea will stay here, I can't take the risk of you getting killed out there," he said.

"Fine, but I'll be assisting you from here while you guys are on the field," I frowned in disappointment.

So everybody grabbed their guns from their desks' drawers and protective bulletproof vests and scampered to the elevator. Except for Thea who was supposed to protect me and Pandora, who was only the Forensic Specialist.

"Don't worry, Thea and I will keep you company," said Pandora as she put her hand on my left shoulder.

After taking a 20 minute drive to the Twin Towers, I contacted Geronimo on his earpiece for a status report. They had a stakeout outside the building entrance before Martinez was there.

"Geronimo, what's your status?" I asked.

"Still no sign of Martinez anywhere," he reported. "Wait, how are you contacting me?"

"My chip enables communication between devices like walkie talkies, earpieces, etc. I can also accept and make phone calls for free," I said. "Remember, the suspect's car is a blue FQ-400 Mitsubishi Evolution with a broken rear windshield and bulletholes at the back of the car."

"Copy that," he rogered. Then finally Martinez showed up and went to the underground parking lot. "Danny, the car with matching description just went to the underground parking lot."

"Proceed with caution, he can tell the difference between local police vehicles and international agency cars for two reasons. One: Malaysia doesn't have a federal law enforcement agency and two: Dodge Chargers are NEVER found on Malaysian roads before, so he can spot you from a distance," I explained.

"Roger," he said. So he followed him from a distance, about five cars apart. They stopped when Martinez parked next to a black Audi RS6 at the lonely parts of the parking lot, the part where people rarely park their cars at.

"Have you got a visual on him?" I asked.

"Yes, we have. He's parked next to a black Audi RS6," said Geronimo. According to Benjamin, they saw that Martinez was meeting someone.

"Looks like Martinez is meeting someone," said Benjamin.

After a short while, Geronimo decided to make a move. "Let's move." They closed in on them and Geronimo identified himself.

"Fernando Martinez! This is Interpol," Geronimo identified. Immediately, the person who Martinez was meeting pulled a Glock 17 out of his waist, according to Trap.

"He's got a gun!" warned Trap. The gunman started shooting towards them. Luckily, Benjamin and Trap took cover behind pillars while Geronimo took cover behind the car. The trio pulled their SIG pistols from their holsters, thumbed the safety levers and returned fire. Martinez ran away from the shootout and the gunman ran out of ammo. He started his car and quickly drove away.

"You go handle Martinez, Trap and I will take care of the shooter," said Geronimo to Benjamin. Benjamin chased after Martinez and jumped on him. Once Martinez fell, Benjamin kneeled on his back, and cuffed him. As for Geronimo and Trap, they fired shots to the gunman's car, hoping to pop a tire. Unfortunately like Thea and I did earlier in the chapter, they both ran out of ammunition and the gunman got away.

"Chesseballs!" yelled Geronimo in frustration. Then I asked for a status report.

"Geronimo, I need a status report," I said.

"Shots fired, one suspect caught, a second person who is believed to be involved has escaped," he reported.

"Roger, shall I send a car to bring the suspect back to HQ?" I asked.

"That won't be necessary, over and out," he said as he turned off his earpiece. "Fernando Martinez..." said Geronimo as he looked at the smirk on Martinez's face.

* * *

**A/N: That's chapter 3 for you guys. The longest chapter yet. Hope you enjoyed it! Chap 4 coming up!**


	4. Chapter 4-First Suspect

**A/N: Chapter edited.**

**Disclaimers from past chapters will be applied here and to future chapters and/or stories.**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**First Suspect**

**Interpol HQ, Malaysian Branch, Kuala Lumpur**

**Saturday, August 14 2013**

**1.09 p.m.**

Back at HQ, interrogation was just about to start. While Geronimo got to interrogate, Thea and I got to watch from the observation room, behind the one-way glass.

"Huh... Geronimo isn't the mouse Benjamin used to describe," I stated as I stood with my hands behind my back.

"How did he used to describe him?" Thea asked, turning to me.

"Before he joined Interpol, Benjamin said he used to be wimpy, cowardly, a wus, likes to whimper a lot, etc., etc.," I said.

"Oh, that is true, he used to be a fraidy mouse," she said. "How do you describe him now?"

"Tough, strict, short-tempered, brave," I replied.

After a short pause, she finally had the guts to say: "I missed the old him... I missed the times when we went on adventures, stopping villains, getting a scoop, but the thing I miss the most is New Mouse City," she said.

"When's the last time you guys went back to New Mouse City?" I asked.

"About three months ago," she answered.

"And The Rodent's Gazette?" I asked again.

"Still competing with The Daily Rat, as usual," she answered.

"Who's running it?" I asked.

"William Shortpaws, our grandfather," said Thea.

We ended our conversation when Geronimo stepped in the the interrogation room. He shut the door behind him and sat opposite of Martinez.

"Where were you at 2.05 a.m. last night?" asked Geronimo.

"My house, fell asleep to a movie," said Martinez.

"Nice try, someone said he saw your car outside his house since 5 in the afternoon."

"Alright, alright, I was drunk, I slept there to avoid DUI," he admitted.

"You slept there? For 8 hours straight?" said Geronimo.

So he explained in his Spanish accent: "Yup, let me explain. When I woke up, a car, maybe an Audi drove past me. He stopped near me and stuck something out of his window and towards the house. After that, he went in. I felt suspicious, so I followed. When I entered the gates, he was already in the house. I went in, saw him and grabbed him by the neck. I got in the kitchen in hopes of finding a weapon. I reached for a knife, but the intruder pulled me by the back of my shirt and slammed me against a rack of glasses. One of the glasses fell and broke. When I wanted to fight back, he got a knife from the counter and slashed my right arm as I parried it. He did a finishing move by doing a spinning back kick. I slid across the counter, making everything on it fall to the ground. I blacked out but I got back on my feet a second later. He escaped through the kitchen window and got to his car. I started mine and chased after him. We got to a highway and then suddenly when we got to an off-ramp, he disappeared. That's the end of my story."

"Disappeared? *Sigh*, who were you meeting at the Twin Towers?" Geronimo asked strictly.

"That was Fernando's business partner," he stated.

"A business partner who pulls a gun in front of me and my teams' face? I don't think so," he denied.

"He's an ex-con, he gets nervous when any form of law enforcement or anyone else that carries a gun show up," said Martinez. "Hmph..._Idiota_..."

"_Pensaste que yo no entendía eso, cabrón_?" repiled Geronimo.

"Did you understand that?" Thea asked me.

"Every word," I answered.

He thought he had enough, so he decided to leave. But before he did, Martinez asked some rather suspicious questions.

"Wait! Before 'chu leave, was that chica (chick) who shot my car one of 'chu?" Martinez asked.

Geronimo froze for a moment. Then he answered: "That 'chica' was my sister. And yes, she was one of us."

"Ah, me gusta eso chica, no offense" He said: "I like that chick."

Geronimo responded: "Better watch your mouth, because if she hears that she will whip your butt."

In the observation room, Thea responded to that very badly. "Oh, I will whip his butt, just wait and see, Martinez!" she said.

"She sounds feisty," said Martinez. "What about the boy?"

"He's my adopted nephew." He refused to reveal my name to conceal my identity.

"Those guys will totally pay for the damages they made to my car!" Those were the last words of Martinez before Geronimo shut the door behind him. Then he joined me and Thea in the observation room.

"I don't believe him," Geronimo said.

"Neither do I," I replied.

"He asked those last two questions like he knew that you were the ones that were shooting at him," he theorized.

"We've never met him before in our lives. Have you, Thea?" I asked.

"Nope," she answered. "What now big broth?"

After another short pause, he decided to: "Get Agent Damien to take him to the holding cell." He and Thea stepped out of the room after that.

I stayed for a while to look at Martinez's face full of lies, then I left to check on Pandora at the garage, downstairs.

"Are you done the pulling slugs out of those two cars yet?" I asked as I walked out of the elevator.

"I'm done with the ones from Geronimo's car, I'm still stuck with Fernando's. Do you mind lending me a paw? Or a hand perhaps?" she asked.

"Sure, why not," I said as I took a pair of gloves and a specimen jar on the nearby desk. "You got a spare pair of tweezers?"

She reached into her lab coat's pocket and gave me the tweezers. "Here you go," she said. "You start with the boot, I got the bumper."

"How long have you been doing this?" I asked as I pulled out my first slug.

"Half an hour ago," Pandora answered.

"No, not that. I meant, how long have you been working at Interpol?" I asked again.

So she answered: "Oh. Well, Geronimo joined Interpol about a month before we did. Then, me and the others tagged along to help him."

"With what?" I said as I kept pulling out more slugs and putting them in the specimen jar.

"Remember the 2011 LA Guns Expo?" she reminded.

"That's the time Benjamin and I first met each other," I mentioned.

"And the time when the team stopped The Technologist," said Pandora.

"So those guys were you? No wonder you looked familiar," I said.

"So you've seen me before? Where?" she asked.

"Back then when Benjamin and I was video chatting, you showed up from his back. He introduced you to me. Don't you remember that? That's how I guessed your name when we met at my house," I reminded.

"Oh, that time," she nodded. "When did you start working with Apple?"

"A few months before the Expo. I was 11 by then," I replied.

"How did you managed to work with them?" Pandora asked.

"My chip enhances my intelligence, sense of logic and knowledge. When I showed my talent to Apple, they took me in to work with them," I explained.

Again she asked: "What if the chip wasn't there right now? What will happen to your knowledge?"

"Some of it will still be there, in my brain," I answered.

"What about school?" Pandora said.

"I don't go to school anymore. I only go sometimes to pickup and meet my friends there," I answered (this was why I didn't attend school yesterday when the team landed). "Speaking of school and intelligence, shouldn't you and Benjamin be at one right now and how did you know so much about forensic science?"

"We do go to school, but since it's the middle of summer, we don't. And about the knowledge thing, it took me a whole lot of cop shows," she said.

"So you and Benjamin just work part time here?" I asked.

"Yup, but not just us both. The whole team does. Benjamin and I work at Interpol as a summer job," she answered as I pulled my final slug.

"Here's my final slug," I informed Pandora.

"Great, now help me with the bumper," she said.

After further inspection, I found that the some of the slugs pierced the bumper. "Looks like some of these pierced the bumper, we have to take it apart from the car."

"Tell me what I have to do," said Pandora.

I explained: "Alright, you take that side, I'll take this side. We've gotta peel off the hooks by pulling the bumper until you hear snapping sounds, okay? Okay. On the count of three, we pull. 1,2,3!"

We pulled carefully and as hard as we can. After a few 'snaps', we finally took the bumper off.

"Just put it down here," I ordered. I examined that the slugs almost penetrated the chassis. Behind it was the fuel tank.

"Good thing these never made through the chassis," said Pandora.

"Otherwise, the car goes boom and Martinez will cease to exist," I punned as I pulled the slugs out.

"Good one," she chuckled. "How many rounds did you guys put into this car?"

"Let me see, 30 from my PS90, 30 from Thea's ACR," I replied.

"60 slugs it is then," she stated.

To kill some time, I asked Pandora if she'd like to listen to music.

"Are you into music, Pandora?"

"Yup," she answered.

"Do you like Creed?" I asked her again.

"Are you kidding me? That's my favorite 2000s rock band," she stated.

"Really? That's my favorite band too." And with the power of my chip, I turned on one of my favorite songs from Creed, One Last Breath, on my iPhone. If any of you readers haven't heard of it, look it up on YouTube.

_*Guitar solo*_

_Me: Please come now, I think I'm falling,_

_I'm holding on to all I think is safe,_

_It seems I found a road to nowhere,_

_And I'm tryin' to escape..._

_Pandora: I yelled back when I heard thunder!_

_But I'm down to one last breath,_

_And with it let me say, let me say..._

_Us: Hold me now, I'm six feet from the edge and I'm thinkin',_

_Maybe six feet, ain't so far down..._

After all that, we pulled out the last of the slugs.

"That's the last of 'em," I said.

"We're not done yet," she told me.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"There's still some bulletholes in the front of the of the Evo," she informed.

"The front? Thea and I never fired from the front," I wondered as I walked to the front.

"Really?" said Pandora as she got to my side.

"These holes are bigger than the ones just now," I stated. I crouched and got my tweezers. I pulled one of the slugs and examined it. These were bigger caliber slugs than the other ones we pulled out.

"These aren't the same caliber like just now," I said to myself. Then I finally recognize what caliber the slug was. "My God! We've got a we've got a .50 cal slug in our hands and paws. The .50 BMG, originally for the Browning M2. One shot of this out of a Barrett M107, it could blow up your head like a watermelon."

"Are you sure you never owned a gun that uses this type cartridge?" Pandora asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. I know my father had some back in the day, but they're all back in the States. I couldn't get them back here because guns that uses such big ammunition are illegal in Malaysia. Besides, they couldn't even get past the customs," I explained.

"Hmm... Pull 'em all out. I'll analyze these at the lab," she told. So I got my tweezers and pulled out all 16 slugs.

"Now that's done, it's time to go back to the lab," she said as I gave her tweezers back. She was struggling to carry those four medium-sized specimen jars. I decided to help her.

"Let me get that for ya," I said. She thanked me and walked straight to the elevator. Before I left the garage, I wanted to check the mirrors of Fernando's car. The right side-mirror was dangling on its socket, the left one went missing and the rear view mirror was split into half. Both pieces were lying on the car floor.

Hmm... Suspicious, I thought. Then Pandora shouted my name from the elevator. She was already inside.

"Hey Danny! Are you comin' or what?" she shouted.

"Hold the door, I'm coming," I shouted back. I joined her and pressed a button. The door closed and we went back down.

"Well, what could I do to help you?" I asked.

"No help needed here, I just need to work my magic. You can stay if you want to," she said.

"Nah, it's okay. I need to go back up to see if the team needs my help," I rejected softly.

"If you need company, don't be afraid to come down here!" she smiled.

"Okay!" I shouted back on my way out.

Back at the bullpen, neither Geronimo nor Trap was there. The only ones left were Benjamin and Thea, battling themselves on my newly released FPS game, Field Of Battle 2: Modern Combat.

"Any idea where Trap and Geronimo might be?" I asked.

"They went out to buy lunch," answered Thea.

"Wait a minute, I know those sounds anywhere, are you guys playing Field Of Battle 2?" I asked.

"Yup," Benjamin answered.

"And our team is about to win the the deathmatch in 5, 4, 3, 1!" shouted Thea.

"Blue team wins!" said the game's announcer.

"Yes!" they both said aloud.

Then I wanted to show Thea how good I am at my own game.

Literally.

"Alright, step aside Benjamin. I want to show your aunt how a true pro snipes," I said.

"Be my guest," Benjamin allowed.

"Alright Thea, I'm gonna destroy you," I said.

"Hah! Prepare to eat your words," said Thea.

We played a match with a 300 kill limit. I wasn't using the chip to play, I played myself. Thea took a couple of headshots when I began challenging her.

"How do you like the taste of lead?" I teased.

"Oh, you shouldn't have done that, you just unleashed her fury," said Benjamin as he watched me playing over my shoulder.

After that, I really started eating my words. When I tried to look for Thea through my sniper scope, she sneaks up from behind and surprised me. Killcam showed that she stabbed me in the back with a katana.

"How does feel like to have a 16-inch sharpened piece of steel, ripping through your flesh?" she asked with a teasing tone.

"Touché," I said.

"The pizzas are here!" said Trap as he walked out of the elevator.

"You guys better eat well because I'm not going back out there for anything, okay?" said Geronimo as he sat down on his chair. He said that because it was cold and raining outside.

"So, any leads when I was downstairs helping out Pandora?" I asked as I stood up.

"No, not yet. Our only hope of finding clues now is the 9mm slugs Pandora pulled out," Geronimo answered, as he sat down.

"Meanwhile, should I get her up here or do you want me to send her down some lunch?" asked Benjamin.

"Good idea, bring her down this whole pizza. I bought it specially for her," answered Geronimo with a smile.

"Alright, I'll see you guys in a bit!" Benjamin said while carrying the pizza box.

"So, what now? We've got six hours to kill and there's nothin' to do," I said.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to see how Grandpa Shortpaws is doing," said Geronimo.

"Hey Danny, how's about you and me go for a couple of rounds on that video game of yours?" asked Trap.

"Sure, you have a laptop?" I said.

"I sure do. It's in my bag," he said.

"Well, turn it on and join us then!" I said.

Before we started playing, we ate a few slices of pizza to avoid ourselves from starving. Mmm... Pepperoni never tasted any better. Now that's finished, time to strike Thea and or Trap some headshots. We played for half an hour, then I asked Geronimo if he wanted to join us.

"Hey G, do you want to join us?" I asked.

"I'll pass. I have a report to finish," he rejected.

"Benjamin, are you okay with not playing? My gaming laptop is in my bag if you want to join," I asked him. He got back up as soon as he delivered Pandora's pizza. "I put it to sleep just in case."

"You won't mind?" he replied. I shook my head. Then he got my laptop, and sat right next to me.

Right after the 40 minute deathmatch, we all got bored an stopped playing.

"Ugh... I'm bored," I moaned. "You wanna go home Thea? J-Son told me you needed to clean your SIG."

She blew out a long sigh and said; "There's no point of staying here, okay."

"So, I'll guess we'll be seeing you guys later then," I bid farewell.

"Bye Danny!" said Benjamin and Trap.

The journey from HQ to home was completely disastrous. It was the rainy season again and a thunderstorm started ever since Geronimo and Trap left HQ to get lunch. As a result, a flash flood occurred. Thea's car stalled a few times because of the water running through the engine.

At the point when the traffic was really slow, I started to assume that a freak accident had happened. Further down the highway, we saw a car. Its front was end stuck in an uncovered car-sized manhole.

"What the...?" I said in shock.

"Holy cheddar..." said Thea.

We arrived at home about an hour later (still raining by the way). Straight away, we went to my underground armory to get Thea's SIG cleaned. I brought along an A3 drawing paper, pencils, an eraser and a sharpener, just in case I get bored while Thea cleans her weapon.

"How am I going to find the kit in all this?" Thea said. The armory was huge, about 2400 sq ft.

"Hold on," I said. I went to the wall beside the door. Thea's eyes followed me as a piece of glass appeared with a virtual keyboard on it. I typed in the search bar above the keyboard:

"Cleaning kit for SIG Sauer P226"

Then, a bunch of arrows appeared on the floor, leading to the cleaning kits section.

"Ladies first," I said as I let her walk first.

We went further I into the armory and finally found the cleaning kits section. The matter now is to find the right kit. With a little help from technology, the arrows continued pointing upwards on the wall, and showed Thea the right one, hanging by a hook.

"That was convenient," she as as she sat down on a tall stool behind her, putting her gun and the kit on the table, taking out the magazine.

"Don't thank me-thank technology," I said as I took a seat opposite of her.

"So, 2400 sq ft of guns?" said Thea while separating the slide from the receiver.

"Not all of them are, some sections are for attachments. All of them are separated into different sections," I explained.

"Does your family hunt?" she asked.

"Well, we would sometime go to our ranch when we were living at America and hunt there. I still kept their favorite weapons for memories," I explained as I started to draw a Remington M870 shotgun.

"How big was it?" she asked again as she took off the barrel from the slide and shoving a little brush into it.

"The ranch? About a hectare," I said. "Wanna see our favorite moments?"

"I'd love to," she agreed. So I reached for a photo album labeled: 'hunting moments' that I coincidentally left at the far side of the table.

"Here's my dad, holding his M40A1," I said as I flipped the cover, showing my dad's photo.

"Huh, you look exactly like him," she said.

"Yeah, thanks. I get that a lot. He taught me lots of stuff, told me what to do and what not to do," I described.

"He sounds like a great man," she complemented.

"Thanks. He was. Here's him scoring a kill with his rifle," I said as I turned the page.

"Here's my mom, barbecuing burgers while we're busy shooting," I said as I flipped another page; "and here's my sister, Sarah. She's holding her first pistol, the Beretta 92."

"She looks kinda cute," she commented as she finished cleaning the barrel.

"A little chubby if you ask me," I said as Thea reassembled the slide with the receiver.

"Did she ever got a chance to shoot?" she asked again while she took a few trigger pulls.

"She did," I answered as I flipped the page. It showed a picture of Sarah, shooting. Below it was her, holding the scoresheet. A bullethole at the outermost part of the circle was on it. A text below that says: Sarah's first hit (Target at 10 feet, 50 shots took).

"Seriously?" she chuckled.

"Yeah," I muttered. I stared deeply in to the picture. I started sobbing. My face turned bright red, tears shed and streamed down my face, dripping on the picture. The sound of thunder added a little more feeling to my sadness.

"What's wrong Danny?" she asked.

"I just miss 'em so much," I answered as I started to cry.

"It's alright, you still have me," she said as she held my hand to cheer me up. But I didn't answer.

"Hey, it's okay to be sad. But the problem is that you're still living in the past. It's time to forget it and its about time you start making the future," said Thea while wiping away my tears.

"*Sob* You're right, it is time to forget the past..." I agreed; "I've been living in it for a long time, and look where it got me. Pain, depression, despair..."

"Good, because I know how it feels like to not have a family like yours," she stated. "Now c'mon, let's go back upstairs."

We went back to the elevator by reversing the direction of the arrows. I calmed myself down by playing a few rounds of Field of Battle with Thea as soon as we got back upstairs. I still couldn't get my mind of something though. Remember earlier in the chapter when Geronimo interrogated Martinez? How did he know it was me and Thea who were shooting his car? From the moment I heard him ask those questions, I knew that I smelled a rat.

* * *

**Welp, that's chap 4. Chap 5 will be done soon. Stay tuned!**


	5. Chapter 5-The Accomplice

**Arif Mansion **  
**Saturday, August 15, 2013**  
**9.01 a.m.**

The next morning, we had breakfast late because of one: Thea woke up late and two: I was amping up the suspension system on my 2013 Lamborghini Aventador all morning so it could go off-road. Good thing I had the chance to cook before Thea did. I made one of Malaysia's most famous dishes, the Malaysian fried rice.

"What are we having for breakfast, Danny?" asked Thea.

"Good thing I got to the kitchen before you did, I made Malaysian fried rice for both of us," I said while coming out of the kitchen, carrying a plate full of rice at each hand to the table; "but I have to warn you, this dish is very spicy."

"I was warned by Benjamin about how spicy Malaysian food is before, so I'm ready for it," she said confidently.

"Well, that's because he's tasted it before. As soon as he took the first bite, his mouth was on fire!" I said as I put the plates down.

"Metaphorically?" she asked.

"No, it was literally on fire! Someone tampered our food by putting a substance that instantly ignite if it physically comes in contact with saliva. His mouth wasn't burned thanks to my quick reflexes, I poured a glass of water into his mouth. He did get to taste of the rice though, after I made him a new plate of the dish," I explained as I sat down.

"That's terrible! Did you guys find the person redhanded?"

"We did, he was sentenced to 20 years of time in prison for attentive murder."

"How come he didn't tell us?" She sounded concerned.

"It was only a small matter, he didn't want you guys to get worried."

"That poor thing..."

"Alright, here you go. Fresh out of the wok."

"So, spoons and forks, or hands?" she asked.

"The traditional way to eat is by using hands. But in this case, spoons and forks because it is a little oily, and hot."

So she grabbed the silverware and shoveled a spoonful of rice from the plate and into her mouth. It looked like she enjoyed it.

"So? Tell me what you think," I asked for her opinion.

"Hmm... Not bad. I think I can stand the heat," she said while swallowing.

"Good. Because the more you eat, the more heat you'll get."

She took a second bite of the food and paused. That's when I started to think that she bit something what she was really hoping not to bite.

"Something wrong Thea?" I asked.

"Yeah, what did I just bit?" she said.

"What did it taste like?"

"It tastes funny and it's getting really hot in my mouth."

"You better spit it out because that was the bird's eye chili pepper, the spiciest of all chili peppers in Malaysia."

"Hmpft... Hhhhhaaaaa! Hot! hot! hot! said Thea while spitting out the chili pepper, going to the kitchen to get some water.

"Get some milk to drink or a piece of bread to eat. Something sweet or tasteless can extinguish a chili pepper's heat," I said as she stood up. Then I muttered to myself: "Water doesn't work the way it extinguishes fire..." I wanted to explain to you readers if I could, but you'll all be bored of it.

"Can you finish the food?" I asked her.

"Maybe just half of it," she answered while holding a glass full of milk. "Wow, Benjamin was right. This is spicy."

"Keep the other half in the _saji_."

"_Saji_?"

"It's a dome or cone-shaped cover which we Malays use to keep our food from being soiled by pests."

"Oh, alright. Note to self: keep track of Malay customs and traditions."

"I'll be at the living room if you need me," I said while getting off my seat, holding my plate to be put in the dishwasher.

**11.59 a.m.**  
**Nearly 3 hours later**

I've been drawing in the living room alone because Thea was having a video chat with Geronimo about the situation for the past 3 hours. By the time she was finally done, I already finished drawing two FIA GT1 race cars, the Nissan GT-R GT1 and the Lamborghini Murcièlago R-SV GT1 including the sponsors, decals, shading and shadows. She got beside me and complemented my work.

"Wow, nice cars," she complemented. "You drew these?"

Still holding the wooden pencil, I proudly answered. "Yup. This is one of the non-microchip skills that my parents inherited to me. When they were both still in college, they were good and love making sketches like these. So, art is kind of, in my blood."

"I saw you draw that shotgun yesterday, but it wasn't this detailed..."

"So, any updates?"

"The plates Geronimo got from the car Benjamin, Trap and himself shot yesterday, the local vehicle registry database said that the Audi RS6 was reported stolen three weeks ago."

"The slugs?"

"Ballistics show that the .50 cal slugs were possibly fired from a custom-made heavy machine gun, judging from the rifling marks on the slugs."

"Custom, you say?"

"Mmm-hmm. And Pandora has a theory; the bullet impacts were much deeper. She thinks that the slugs were fire backwards out of a moving car."

I had a fear when she said that. "Just as I thought, someone knew about my vehicles' weapon system..."

"Weapon system?"

"Come with me. I want to show you something."

We got down to my garage to talk more about my cars' weapon system. It looked like the garage of a Need For Speed racing game. The lights turned down, blue light circled around the turntable and a spotlight shined over it. There's also the Need For Speed Most Wanted (2012) garage music playing for a little bit of feeling. It also had a coffee table where I take coffee breaks from servicing my cars.

"J-Son, project the family Porsche on the turntable please," I ordered. Then a hologram of my family's Porsche Panamera Turbo projected on it. Blue streaks of holographic light with white tails flowed along the curves on the car's body. Ah, the moment you realize that it's Need For Speed Carbon all over again.

"When my dad was alive, wherever we (my family) go he wanted to keep us safe. Even when we're traveling. So he made a few changes to our family car," I said as a hologram of information about the safety, defense and weapons system hovered over the four-door grand tourer. She read it while I explained on the way.

"This is my family's former Panamera. It was wrecked once, but I managed to restore it. This one is special; my dad was overprotective of my family, so he added some extra safety features that Porsche didn't bother to have."

"Like what?"

"For starters, dad replaced all the body panels on the car with toughened, high-density aluminum replicas. It's bulletproof and will stop anything from a nine-millimeter to a .308 Winchester. The windows are made of Alphagel, a high-tech Japanese gel that absorbs shocks, and nothing can break it. It stops .50 BMGs in mid flight and even at point blank. He also installed weapons; a popup, auto-aiming, belt-fed, .50 cal custom turrets. They are stored inside the front fenders when not in use. At the back are also machine guns, they just don't auto-aim and are hidden inside the bumper under the tailights. Not stopping just there, under the car are four caltrop caches. They are opened to release them, and pops the tires of whoever might be pursuing us. The EMP generator in the trunk disables all electronics in a 200 meter radius, and a signal cloaking device so we don't get tracked if we really need the GPS."

In amazement, she raised her eyebrows. "That much weaponry into a car? What else is this Porsche packing?"

"In terms of performance, the stock V8's parts are replaced with racing parts for a fast getaway from a threat. He increased the bore of the combustion chamber, installed bigger cylinder heads, added a two turbochargers, and a carbon fiber intake manifold. All of that made this car's engine output 1192 horsepower. For a quick acceleration from standstill, three tanks of nitrous oxide were added. Tires are replaced with experimental Michelin run flats, if punctured the car will still run at a maximum speed of 260 kilometers an hour for a range of 300 miles."

"How many people know this?" she asked me.

"Very few, including yourself. The other car's weapons and safety systems are completely updated," I answered. "This is dangerous Thea, I know that this is old, but and if somebody had already leaked information about this to The Technologist... I'm dead."

"Then this means that we have a mole among us."

"That was something I was hoping not to hear," I said as I let out a heavy and worried sigh.

"Hey... Don't worry. I'm here to protect you. Alright?" she said as she put her hands on both of my shoulders, looking deep into my brown eyes. "Now c'mon, let go out for lunch. I'm starving."

"Hold on, I forgot my gun in the living room."

**Thea's Perspective**

"Be careful!" I said.

"I will!" He said as he walked up to the retinal scanner next to the elevator doors. The doors opened and he went into it.

"J-Son, are you still here?" I called.

"Yes, I'm still here Agent Stilton," J-Son answered.

"I have a query."

"About what, Agent Stilton?"

"The Alphagel glass, how does it work?"

"Well, Alphagel is, as you already know, a gel fused with silicone."

"Then how does it stay solid and retain the shape of a piece of glass when it's not even receiving any shocks?"

"You didn't let me finish, Agent Stilton. Alphagel turns into a solid IF any form of physical pressure is applied to it. The Japanese developed this out of crystal clear Alphagel and mixed it with nanobots. They moulded it into the shape of the windows and windshields. Then, the nanobots emit vibrations to the Alphagel for it to retain shape."

"And if it's hit with a bullet, it'll just ricochet off," I continued.

"Exactly, ma'am," J-Son replied.

"Don't call me ma'am. Do I look like a ma'am to you?"

"No, ma'am...er... Agent Stilton."

"Anyway, can you bring out the Charger up here? I want to be in the car while waiting."

"Of course." Then the hologram of the Panamera disappeared, and it was replaced by the car I requested. I got into it and started the engine.

**My Perspective**

**Meanwhile...**

As soon as the elevator stopped on the ground floor, the doors opened and I quickly ran to the living room and grabbed my USP45 off the coffee table when I heard the front door shut. That's when my reflexes triggered, cocked the gun, turned around and aimed it at the person at the door (one-handed), gangsta style. It was none other than my neighbor and best friend, Firas.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! It's me! It's me!" said Firas while putting his hands up as a sign of surrender.

"Dude, what the heck are you doing here?" I asked... angrily as I put my gun down.

"I just wanted to drop by and say hi! The door was unlocked, so I thought I'd let myself in..."

"That I get. What I don't get is how my two guards wielding M4 Carbines let you in." I'm really sorry I haven't told you all this, but the guards Geronimo assigned had arrived yesterday when we got back from HQ. Good thing I prepared them guard posts for them to take shelter in the rain.

"I just told them I was your best friend. Easy..." I gave him my signature raised eyebrow stare to make him tell me what really happened. "Alright, they pointed their guns at me, and THEN I told them that I was your best friend."

I still didn't believe him, so I continued to gaze him with my stare. "That's the best you got?"

"Fine, they didn't let me in, so I tased them."

I took a deep breath and sighed loudly. "You do know that injuring an Interpol agent is a felony that can be brought up to World Court?"

"Really?!"

I let out another loud sigh. "How many volts... Firas?"

"Since the Taser you gave me had an adjustable voltage, I'd say about 10 volts..." I knew he was lying. I gave him another deep glare at his face.

"Okay, maybe 10000 volts. They'll wake up eventually."

"*Sigh* You almost scared the life out of me. Anyway since your here, the agent that I requested and I are going out to eat lunch. Wanna come along?" I offered as I put my gun in the holster.

"Well, I haven't had lunch before I left yet, sure," he agreed as I swiped the 3 extra 12-round mags off the coffee table, sliding them onto my combat belt.

"You're carrying a gun now?" Firas asked.

"Interpol's orders, it's for my own safety," I answered as we walked into the garage elevator, after passing the retinal scanner first.

"So, what's the agent like?" he asked again as the doors opened.

"Oh, she's passionate, empathetic... always cheers me up whenever I'm upset or sad."

"Bro! You never told me it was a girl..." said Firas as the doors closed, going down to the garage.

"Well, technically speaking she is female," I said as we arrived and exited the elevator.

"What do you mean?" He said as I looked at Thea. Firas looked at the direction I was looking at. The female mouse was already in the driver's seat of the Charger which she must have requested from J-Son.

"Oh..." He said in awe and awkwardness because he's never seen a giant humanoid mouse, holding the steering wheel of a Dodge Charger before. As he stared, we walked slowly to the car while talking.

"Where does Interpol even find an agent like this?" He asked.

"Search this up at Google: New Mouse City," I answered as we got closer to the law enforcement sedan.

"Wow, she's really hot for a mouse..." He complemented.

"Trust me, I wouldn't say that in front of her if I were you," I warned as we pulled the door panels. He was sitting in the back while I rode shotgun.

"Who's your friend, Danny?" Asked Thea.

"Oh, this is my friend who I was talking about. Thea, this is Firas. We grew up together," I answered.

"Hi! I'm Special Agent Thea Stilton," she introduced herself as she shook hands with him before we drove off.

"Firas Fuad, nice to meet you," he replied.

"So, where we eating?" She asked as she turned to me.

"I already sent the coordinates to the car's GPS system. Before we head out, we have to check on the guards outside to see if their awake," I told.

"What do you mean, by 'wake up'?" She asked.

"They're knocked-out."

"Whaddya mean, knocked out?"

"Apparently SOMEBODY here decided to send 10000 volts of electricity into their bodies because they didn't let him in!" I said while raising my voice and turning my head backwards.

Before we moved, the garage door opened downwards as lights guiding us out were turned on, like a runway at an airport.

"Remember, it's left-hand driving here in Malaysia," I advised.

"Right," she replied as she started to drive.

"Left, not right," I advised her again.

"Right, I mean left, I mean.. Oh, whatever," she said nervously as we exited the garage. I let out a little giggle after that.

We checked the guards, and I was glad to see them awake and on their feet.

After a while traveling, I couldn't keep what was in my mind about just now. I wanted to speak it out to Thea, I just thought that Firas would be embarrassed if I did.

"Alright, I can't keep this a secret anymore. Thea when you were still waiting for me, we discussed something about you-" I was cut of by Firas who was trying to stop me from finishing.

"Dang it Danial!" He said.

"Thea, Firas thinks you're hot," I said quickly to avoid any interruptions. Firas' face went bright red as a tomato.

"Ooo...kay, I'll try to take that as a complement..." Thea said.

We went to eat at a restaurant that serves western cuisine. It was somewhere in the state capital of Shah Alam, Selangor. I ate a piece of grilled lamb with a side of coleslaw and French fries while Firas had steak. Thea on the other hand, she had enough of spicy food after the fried rice we had this morning almost burnt her tongue. So, she ordered something with cheese instead.

We dropped Firas home after lunch. When we reached his house, I realized that I've forgotten to pick up a 10 bags of 6mm airsoft pellets at an airsoft store a few miles back. I asked Thea to turn back. After we did, we went home straight away.

"Danny, you look worried," she started as we were on the way home. "You got something on your mind?"

"Yeah, actually I do," I started. "It's about how Martinez knew that we were the people who shot his car. I even have a theory-" I was cut off by a strange look on Thea's face followed by a right J-turn on the freeway with no dividers. I held on to my life as the G forces pushed my body to the middle of the cockpit.

"What the...? Thea, you can't just so a J-turn in the middle of a highway like that! We could of gotten ourselves killed," I exclaimed.

"Of course I can. I was trained for this," she replied. "So, lay it on me."

"Lay what on you?"

"The theory!"

"Oh, right. The theory is that I think he's part of The Technologists. Someone's been feeding him intel about us so that they can take us... I meant me, down."

"What if he looked in his mirror? Possibly he saw us in it."

"He couldn't. Based on my photographical memory and from what I found out when I examined Martinez's car, you shot his rear view mirror by accident when you tried to aim at his head-which is weird because... Why would you even do that?" She took a deep breath to answer, but she kept silent after that instead.

"You know what, just let that slide. Anyway, because of the lack of accuracy the PS90 offers at long range, I accidentally shot both his car's side mirrors. So there's no way Martinez could get a good look at us before he left the property."

"Like I said, we've got a mole among us."

"Where are we going now?"

"Back to HQ so that you can explain your theory to the whole team."

**Interpol HQ**  
**1.27 p.m.**

"So I was right! I've checked the car myself when we brought it into the garage, but I'd never thought that my suspicions would be true," exclaimed Benjamin after I explained to the team about my theory. By the way, we were gathering around the bullpen while sitting on each others desks.

"What about the business partner he mentioned? Could he be the source of his intel?" Thea theorized.

"I interrogated him last night. I didn't very much get anything about him though," stated Trap. "Martinez never left interrogation ever since."

"Let me have a go at him, he'll crack," said Thea confidently.

**Interrogation Room**

While Thea got to interrogate, Geronimo and I were in the room next door, the observation room. I wasn't really sure if Thea was allowed to interrogate because I was afraid that she would get carried away.

"Are you sure about this Geronimo? I'm worried if she goes overboard," I asked.

"It'll be fine, Danny. Trust me, she's Interpol's top interrogator... next to me," he answered to reassure me.

We turned to Thea as she walked into the interrogation room looking strict. She held a specimen jar in her hand. It contained one of the .50 cal slugs I pulled out.

"Ah, the chica who shot my car. 'Chu have come back back for me, no?" Said Martinez in his annoying Spanish accent.

"Cut the trash, Martinez. I wanna know how you knew it was me and that 13 year old boy who shot your car," she demanded as she sat down opposite of Martinez.

"Easy, I looked in the mirror."

"The ultra-high definition surveillance cameras in the property caught the footage of all three of your car's mirrors being shot. There's no way that you could get a good look at us by then."

"Damn, I thought I had him jam those things..." He muttered to himself aloud. That's when he realized that he just gave up some important information. Then he started cursing to himself in Spanish: "Crap! Why am I so damn stupid?"

Thea left a wrinkled forehead smirk on her face and said: "Gotcha..."

"Alright! I confess... I wasn't intentionally trespassing the property. Alright? I was forced."

"By who?"

"I don't know. Someone phoned me a week ago to come to this country and steal a piece of tech from this kid for him. Otherwise, he'll do something to my wife and children!"

"Did ever occur to you to call the police?"

"Are 'chu loco? I was in Miami and there's still some time that I didn't do for the crimes I did there."

"What about the fight in the kitchen? With who did you have it with?"

"The guy who sent me here also sent an accomplice to help me with the job. He had special equipment. We fought because he refused to tell me if my family's alive or not. That's when I started to have a car chase."

"What about this then?" Thea said as she showed Martinez the specimen jar.

"What is that?"

"This is a .50 cal slug we pulled out from the front of your car."

"I don't know anything about that..."

"I want his name."

"Whose name?"

"The accomplice!"

"I...I...I can't remember..."

Thea stood up with her patience running out. "NAME." Thea flared furiously while slamming the desk.

Martinez panicked. "I'm telling you I don't remember!"

Then Thea went to Martinez and pulled him by the shirt and made him stand against the one-way glass. I started to get worried when she pulled out her SIG Sauer and and aimed the gun on his forehead at point-blank range.

"You've got until 1 before I turn your brain into a cheese fondue," she threatened.

"Uh... Geronimo?" I said worriedly.

"Wait for it..." he replied. Then, Thea started to countdown in Spanish.

"Tres..." she started.

"What the...? Are 'chu loco?" Martinez replied.

"Dos..." Thea counted as she thumbed the gun's hammer.

"God please help me!" Martinez panicked.

"G?!" I said as my heart raced.

"Wait for it..." he replied.

"UNO!" That's when Fernando gave up the name.

"Russell - Brock Russell!" My heart raced to the max when Thea pulled the trigger. I realized nothing happened. Her gun was empty.

"Argh!" Martinez shouted while sliding down the wall.

"That's my girl..." Geronimo commented as he gave a smirk.

"One last thing, what happened when you chased him down at the highway?" Thea asked Martinez again.

"He... outran me," he replied (still shaking by the way). "He was already a hundred meters away from me when I exited the property. When I got to the expressway, he vanished. His car, the Audi RS6... went from 0-60 in less than three seconds. I'm telling you, that thing's a rocket."

I stepped out of the observation room immediately to see Pandora in the lab. I had a suspicion about how Russell's car could accelerate so fast. Pandora was doing her usual stuff when she's waiting for the results.

"Playing Field of Battle again, I see?" I started, leaning on the door sill and crossing my arms.

"Yup..." she answered, with her eyes bulging out as she focused her ate to at the computer screen. "Tell me, how long did it take you to infiltrate the Axis's base in campaign mode?"

"To be honest... about half an hour," I replied.

"Ugh... I've been trying to get through this level for the past two hours. And this is the 15th attempt!"

"What can I say, gaming's my thing. But I'm not here for that, Martinez confessed during the interrogation that he had an accomplice."

"Who was it?" she asked, still focusing on her game.

"Brock Russell..."

"I knew it!" She looked away, and instantly lost the level.

"Martinez also said that he took off in his car from 0-60 in under three seconds," I started to walk around, "...which of course, the Audi RS6. So there could be only three ways that how Russell could outrun Martinez. Number 1: the car was four-wheel drive. Number 2: Russell was quick at shifting gears and number 3: the car's performance was upgraded."

"Number 1 could be possible because Audi always make their cars permanently four-wheel drive."

"Which brings us to number 2..." I continued, holding up a 'eureka' stance.

"During Russell's car syndicate days, he was proven to be the world's greatest young driver because he outran multiple police cars during one single chase in ten seconds."

"Until he lost the title to me... And of course, brings us to number 3..."

"Number three is entirely true because of this... By the way, I wanted to show you this ever since you came in here," she said as she got of the chair and asked me to follow her. She directed my attention to the giant flatscreen, showing the picture of a tire track with no patterns.

"So? Maybe when he started accelerating, the wheels spun to much, leaving no pattern behind," I said.

"That's where you're wrong," she started. "According to Benjamin, if the wheels skid, he could have left some dirt behind his car. Thus, making the dirt surface behind it unleveled. So, because of the dirt being leveled, he never skidded. Which concludes that Russell must've turned on-"

"Traction control!"

"Correct, and what is kind of tire that doesn't have patterns?"

"Racing slicks!"

"Exactly..."

"But why use racing slicks if the target's home has a dirt-paved courtyard? Slicks plus dirt equalsno virtual traction at all. It's impossible for Russell's car with slicks to accelerate on dirt under three seconds."

"Unless it wasn't actually slicks..." She said as she brought me to a microscope.

"What do you mean?"

"Look under the microscope."

I saw what looked like, some kind of off-road rallying tire patterns.

"Why does these look like off-road rallying tire patterns to me?"

"Because they are, only microscopic."

"So the tires function on road as slicks and off road as rally tires?"

"Yup, providing maximum traction on road, off road and wet conditions."

"Making the Audi accelerate as fast as a rocket! Pandora! You're a genius."

"Thank you..."

"One problem though, how are we going to find the manufacturer?"

"I'm still searching for it in the database."

"Well, I hate to say this but, you've wasted your time doing that because those are probably custom made. Special equipment is needed to carve those microscopic patterns."

"Possibly The Technologists-"

"Or, Russell himself."

"So that's how he pulled it off," said Benjamin who stood at the door, leaning against the metal door frame on his right arm while crossing both of them. He had a plastic bag full of stuff too.

"Oh, hey Benjamin," greeted Pandora.

"How long have you been standing there?" I asked him.

"Long enough to hear everything," he answered.

"What 'cha got there?" Pandora asked.

"Lunch..." Then he pulled out a bag of nachos and a can of spray cheese out of the plastic bag, putting them on the table.

"Yum..." Pandora said as she gulped down saliva because her mouth was watering like an overflowing bathtub.

"Want some, Danny?" Benjamin asked.

"I already had lunch. But don't mind if I accepted it as a past time snack," I said.

So Pandora and I pulled our chairs close to the table while Benjamin sat on it. I teared the bag of nachos and everyone reached their hands into it and each of us pulled out a chip. Benjamin started spraying cheese on his and scarfed it down.

"Cheese me, bro!" I demanded nicely.

"And me!" Pandora continued after me. He cheesed both of our chips and we shoved them into our mouths.

**Interpol HQ Bullpens, Squad Room**  
**1.49 p.m.**

"The matter now is how do we find Russell?" Benjamin started.

"Already tried tracking his car's GPS coordinates. He installed a thick firewall in the in the GPS's software," I replied.

"That won't be a problem because I had Trap do a BOLO on his car," said Geronimo.

"It could take hours for results to show up. What are we gonna do 'till then?" I asked.

"Benjamin, get me all of Martinez's financial activities starting from the 90s," demanded Geronimo.

"On it Uncle G," replied Benjamin as he sat on his chair, typing away on the keyboard.

"Trap, are done with that BOLO yet?"

"Almost... Done!"

"Danny, try what whatever you can to get through that firewall."

"Got it!"

"Thea, stay with him."

"Sure thing, G."

"Trap, you're coming with me."

"Where to?"

"Video conference room. We're getting all the help we need."

"Who're we gonna contact?"

"Every agency in the world. FBI, CIA, NSA, MI6... I don't even care if Homeland Security wants to tag along."

They both rushed upstairs and contacted the directors of the agencies mentioned above. Back downstairs, I was struggling to get through thick the firewall. It gave me a major headache.

"Almost got it... Arrrrgghh! My head!" I screamed in pain after almost penetrating the firewall.

"Can you try again?" Thea asked.

"Sorry Thea, that's the best I can do. Besides this major headache I'm having, the chip needs to be cooled down after all those attempts," I answered while holding my head.

"How much time do you need?"

"2 hours should be enough."

"Benjamin, are the credit card and bank statements finished downloading yet?"

"I need at least 4 more hours because he spent and earned a lot of money back in the day." Then there goes Geronimo and Trap, rushing down the stairs. Looks like their done with contacting other agencies.

"So, how'd it go?" Thea asked.

"Normal, every agency we contacted agreed to cooperate with us," answered Trap.

"Any luck with Danny?" Geronimo asked.

"Nope. No matter how much I try, I just couldn't. When I finally got through, I had to fight an army of antivirus," I answered.

"*Sigh* That's okay Danny, you've tried your best," replied Geronimo.

"What now? We can't sit here and do nothing 'till results show up," Benjamin said.

"I'm afraid that's all we can do for now, Benjamin. We've all done our best and I think everybody deserves some rest," replied Geronimo.

We all sat around the bullpen, doing whatever we can to cure our boredom. Trap sat in front of his computer screen, waiting for the BOLO results while playing Flappy Bird, Geronimo was looking for a scoop in the Internet for Grandpa Shortpaws, Benjamin and I was having a gun assembling competition while Thea timed us. Our guns were disassembled and put the table. Even the rounds were unloaded from the magazine.

"Alright, are you two ready?" Thea asked.

"Ready when you are," I said as I turned to Benjamin.

"We're ready Aunt T," said Benjamin to his aunt.

"Okay... 3, 2, 1... Go!" Benjamin and I started assembling as fast as we can after Thea gave the green light. The rules were to only hand-load the magazines and only load them with 12 rounds and we had to chamber one into the barrel. It ended up with me winning. Here's my strategy:

**1\. Assembled the barrel into the slide.**  
**2\. Inserted the recoil spring to recoil spring guide and into the slide.**  
**3\. Assembled the slide to the frame/receiver and pulled the slide all the way back until the slide stop locks it into place.**  
**4\. Hand-loaded the 12 .45 ACP rounds into magazine (the rules were not to use speedloaders)**  
**5\. Inserted magazine into the grip/receiver and thumbed the slide stop to chamber a round.**

Here's what caused Benjamin to loose: in step 3, Benjamin only assembled the slide and didn't pull it back. It takes a few milliseconds to pull the slide back than just to thumb the slide stop.

"Aw! I knew I should have pulled it all the way back!" Benjamin said aloud in frustration.

"Haha! Add that to your losing streak," I teased.

"Wow, both of you were pretty quick, you both timed in under 10 seconds," complemented Thea.

"Thanks Aunt T," said Benjamin.

"So, did that cure your boredom Danny?" Thea asked.

"Nope, still bored. I was planning to have a teenagers hangout with Pandora in the lab. Wanna join in Benjy?" I asked.

"Sure," he answered as we both got up.

"Call us back up if the BOLO's ready, Thea!" I shouted as Benjamin and I scampered off to the elevator.

"Alright!" She shouted back.

We talked about Field Of Battle gaming strategies during the hangout. I helped Pandora on that level in campaign mode she was stuck on. Step by step, she got through. What she did wrong was that she killed the guard at the Axis's base at close range, alerting the partner to activate the alarm. What she should have done was killing them with a silenced weapon, snipe the guard at long range (silenced) while the partner is unaware or melee kill them with a knife.

_  
**Bullpen**  
**30 minutes later**

"Geronimo! BOLO results are here!" Trap informed as his computer beeped. He pulled the footage of the BOLO to the 42-inch plasma TV.

"Where's he at?" Geronimo asked as he got of his chair, walking towards the plasma.

"A store clerk at a nearby 7 Eleven recognized his face when the BOLO was issued. She quickly informed the cops as soon as Russell left. She also sent the security footage to help them identify him."

"Then you'll need some help. If he drives his Audi, we... I mean you guys are going to need a better vehicle. If that RS6's acceleration is as fast as Martinez claims it to be, your Dodge Chargers won't stand a chance," I interrupted.

"We planned earlier that we'd stop by Danny's place to get you guys a car that he could lend you," continued Thea.

"Be quick, he couldn't have gone far from the city center," said Geronimo.

"Will do," I replied.

We rushed of to the mansion to pick up a car from my garage. We got there in about under 15 minutes because the roads and freeways were empty and Thea was speeding along like a maniac (good thing there weren't any highway patrol cops cruising in Mitsubishi Evolution Xs). When we got to the mansion, I picked a car not to fast, not to flashy nor expensive. I introduced Thea to Ray, my 2013 Cadillac CTS-V Coupé.

"J-Son, can you please bring Ray up here on the turntable?" I requested. Then Ray drove himself from the storage garage onto the turntable.

"Like I've told you, every one of my cars weapons and defense systems are updated. Like Ray here-" I was cut off by Thea who was asking about the Cadillac's name.

"Ray? That's what you named the CTS-V? Thea questioned.

"Yeah. What's wrong with Ray being a Cadillac's name?"

"Never mind, you can carry on."

"As I was saying, I added a few performance touches to Ray..." Then the holographic stats hovered over the 2-door car. It read:

**Cadillac CTS-V Coupé**

**Engine: 6.2 liter all-aluminum twin-charged LSA V-8**  
**Power: 990 bhp**  
**Top speed: 390 kph (242 mph)**  
**Acceleration (0-62 mph): 3.0 secs**  
**Drivetrain: RWD**  
**Transmission: Standard Tremec TR-6060 6-speed manual**  
**Curb weight: 1,200 kg (2,645.5 lbs)**  
**Lateral grip: 1.3 g**  
**Stopping distance (62-0 mph): 26.2 meters (85.95 ft)**  
**Fuel type: E86 ethanol biofuel**

"He's equipped with an EMP generator that could target other cars front and back for a range of 500 meters, portable spike strips stored in the form of boxes and will extend if deployed, an electronic's jammer that disables other cars electronics, and four hidden popup auto-aiming M134 Vulcan miniguns in case we need to fight back."

"Geronimo would love to drive this-erm-him... No offense Ray," Thea apologized.

"None taken, Agent Stilton," Ray replied.

"Ah!" Thea screamed. "Did he just talk?"

"Oh, I forgot to mention that he has an AI in his ECU," I stated. "By the way, dibs on the drivers seat!"

"Oh no you don't! You're riding shotgun."

"Hey, I'm good at driving for a 13 year old..."

"You're to under-aged to drive."

"Technically, I'm not the one driving. Ray has a built-in autopilot system."

She paused to think. "No..."

"Hey! Who owns Ray anyway?"

"Yeah, but what if cops see you "driving"?" Thea said as she air quoted.

"Fine..." I said as I tossed the keys to Thea. We got into Ray, and Thea started him up. "One more thing, you do know how to drive stick, right?"

"Danny, don't worry. I'm a trained agent. Of course I can drive stick," she said to reassure me.

We fasten our seat belts and drove off to make up for our lost time.

**Federal Expressway**

While Thea was (still) speeding along the highway like a maniac (again), I asked her to slow down. Not because she was going too fast (which is perfectly fine for me), because what I saw from a distance was very much like Russell's Audi RS6.

"Thea, can you please slow Ray down for a second?" I started.

"What's wrong?" She replied.

"You seed that black car over there?"

"Yeah...?"

"Try to keep your distance... I've gotta hunch." I turned on the holographic HUD on the passenger's seat and brought up the footage from my front HD 50 megapixel parking camera. I zoomed in and pulled the photo of the BOLO from Trap's computer with the chip to compare them both. With Ray's help, he confirmed that the car ahead of us was indeed Russell's car.

"We've got good news and bad news," I started.

"What's the good news?" Thea asked.

"I know where Russell is."

"Where?"

"That's the bad news. Right in front of us..." She turned her attention towards the four-door sedan. "Get Ray to call Geronimo. Ask him to go to the video conference room, I'm sending a live feed."

Ray placed a virtual touchpad on Thea's right-hand side. She began typing Geronimo's number on it. He picked up after a few moments later.

**Geronimo's Perspective**

"Thea, where are you?" I asked.

"The Federal Expressway, still on my way here. Listen up, I need you to go to the video conference room, Danny's sending you a live feed from Ray's parking camera," she said.

"Who the cheese is Ray?" I asked again as I ran up the stairs.

"Apparently, that's what Danny named his Cadillac he was going to lend you," she replied as I entered the room.

"Sir, incoming transmission for you from Agent Thea Stilton," said the transmissions operator as I entered the video conference room. I paired the wireless headset the operator gave me with my phone via Bluetooth.

"What am I looking at?" I asked my sister.

"Does that car look familiar to you?" She replied.

I froze. "Russell? How did you find him?"

"Coincidentally while cruising," interrupted Danny in his American accent. I must say, he does a good impression. "Should we engage in a pursuit?"

"Negative, from what I got out of Martinez just now, Russell's car is heavily armed with machine guns chambered in .50 BMG rounds, I CANNOT risk your life out there Danny," I said aloud.

"That won't be a problem, Ray's body panels and glass are bulletproof," stated Danny.

"No, that's still too dangerous to pull off," I said.

"But we'll loose him, we can't go through all the trouble of finding him again!" Thea said.

"We need to engage NOW!" Said Danny loudly.

"DO NOT ENGAGE! I REPEAT, DO NOT ENGAGE...YET!" I yelled through the microphone.

"Yet?" Danny asked suspiciously.

"I'm calling for backup from the Royal Malaysian Police, you both couldn't handle it by yourselves," I said.

"What are we gonna 'till then?" Asked Thea.

"Sit tight, and DON'T let him out of your sights! They'll be there in a couple of minutes."

"Ten-four," Thea agreed. I ended the transmission with a signal of my hand going over my neck to the operator. I started making some calls right away.

**My Perspective**  
**2 minutes later**

It had been 2 minutes, backup still haven't arrived yet. We still kept a distance of 60 meters from Russell.

"Where are they? Backup should have been here by now," complained Thea.

As we drove through an underpass, a group 10 Mitsubishi Evolution Xs with Royal Malaysian Police liveries appeared from the off ramp and onto the highway, placing themselves on random lanes. We were radioed from one of the officers driving in one of those cars.

"This is Seargent Kamal Hussein from the Royal Malaysian Police. Please identify yourself," said the officer in Malay through the car's megaphone. He sounded like he's in his early 20s.

"He wants our-erm-your identification," I translated. "I'll patch Ray's radio signal to his radio scanner."

"I understand Malay, Danny. I'm an Interpol agent," replied Thea. I was done patching and she spoke into the small microphones installed all over the interior. "This is Special Agent Thea Stilton from Interpol, and beside me is a 13-year-old boy I have in protective custody, Danial Arif," she replied in Malay. "Permission to communicate in English, Seargeant."

"Permission granted," replied the officer in English. "We were sent by Special Agent Geronimo Stilton to help you with a pursuit. He's your brother I presume?"

"Yes, he is,"

"So, who do we need to apprehend?"

"Brock Russell. You see that Black Audi RS6 in front of us? There he is. But we need him back ALIVE, so make sure you don't use any unnecessary force. His car is heavily armed with .50 cal machine guns, so be careful," I interrupted.

"Affirmative, anything more that we should know?" He asked in his American accent.

"His car is super-tricked out. It can accelerate as fast as a speeding bullet, so tell your men to try to catch up."

"Ten-four. How are we going to pull this off?"

"I have a plan, you guys turn on your strobe lights and sirens one by one, and make it look like you're chasing us. After that, just drive past us and get closer to Russell. When I say engage, we engage. Got it?"

"Copy that," said the officer.

"What are you trying to do?" Asked Thea.

"Trying to spook him, he'll have no head start if the cops get close enough," I answered. "Alright boys, strobe lights and sirens, NOW!"

Like I planned, they turned them on car by car, the noise of the sirens just got louder and louder until I assume that Russell was able to hear it (remember, I can read minds). The cops closed in on him, going around us. That's when Geronimo rang us.

"Thea, status report," he started.

"The backup has arrived and we're following Danny's plan," she answered.

"No need to explain, I heard it all through Officer Hussein's radio when I called him. Which phase are you going through right now?"

"The beginning of phase two. I'm reading his mind and he's about to get spooked right... Now!" Russell accelerated his car and left the cops in the dust. I held on to my life as Thea did the same, overtaking the police cars.

"ENGAGE! ENGAGE! ENGAGE!" I shouted into the radio. The police sped along behind us as we and Russell a achieved speeds of 250 kph.

"Wow, you guys are fast," complemented Officer Hussein.

"Try to keep up, you're way behind," I teased. I turned on Lady Gaga's 'Applause' on the stereo to get us into pursuit mood.

"Really Danny?" Thea said.

"What? It suits the mood," I replied.

**Radio chatter log**

**Hussein: Wolf Pack, proceed with 10-0 (caution). Suspect vehicle is armed.**  
**Unit 5: 10-4.**  
**(The Wolf Pack closed in. Russell spooks and starts accelerating)**  
**Me: ENGAGE! ENGAGE! ENGAGE! (Accelerates, overtaking the Wolf Pack)**  
**Hussein: WOLF PACK! GO! GO! GO!**  
**Unit 2: Dispatch, we've got a 10-80 (chase in progress), suspect is Brock Russell, driving a black 2013 Audi RS6.**  
**Dispatch: 10-4 Unit 2.**  
**(Russell nearly misses a civilian car)**  
**Dispatch: Officer Hussein, the commissioner wants to know what's going on out there.**  
**Hussein: Dispatch, suspect just nearly missed a civilian vehicle, we need air support.**  
**Dispatch: "Request denied, the chopper's being refueled.**  
**(Russell rams the back of a civilian Toyota Camry and drives away)**  
**Unit 9: Suspect has just 10-57 (hit and run) a civilian vehicle, suspect is still mobile. We need EMS on scene.**  
**Dispatch: Roger that, Unit 9.**  
**Hussein: Unit 1, try to run him off the road.**  
**Unit 1: Copy that.**  
**(Unit 1 gets to Russell's left side, only to be rammed)**  
**Unit 1: Suspect just hit me at the side, minimal damage taken.**  
**(Russell does a drift at a tight turn and rams another civilian vehicle upon exit)**  
**Unit 10: Suspect just took out another civilian and it's rolling. I need EMS on scene, now!**  
**Dispatch: 10-4, Unit 10.**

Russell, Thea and I and the police swerved between mild traffic, taking on tight turns at high speed and listened to more chase music. Thea took an opportunity to drift at a 120 degree turn.

"Hold on!" Said Thea. Then that's when I thought about the EMP generator.

"If Russell's car relies to much on the ECU, maybe I can hit it with the EMP!" I said.

"And stop his car!" Thea continued.

"Tell Hussein and his men to get behind us, if they're hit, they'll go down as well."

"Officer Hussein, tell your men to get behind us. I'm gonna try to hit him with an EMP. If they're hit, their car's system will fail," she said into the comunicator.

"Roger that. Boys! Get behind Agent Stilton's car. She's gonna hit the suspect with an EMP!" Said Officer Hussein.

"Ray, charge up the EMP," I ordered. "Yes sir. 15 seconds remaining," Ray replied.

"Once the EMP's recharged, I only have 5 seconds to discharge it before it does automatically," I stated.

"What if it doesn't?" Asked Thea.

"Then the pulse will discharge at Ray, causing a system failure and could shut him down. We certainly don't want that won't we?"

"Sir, the EMP is fully charged!" Ray informed.

"Good, now get a target lock." The crosshairs were shaky because of Russell. He kept changing lanes to shake us off.

"Stay still, damn it!" I said.

When the countdown ended, the EMP discharged and missed Russell's car.

"EMP missed the target, sir," Ray told me.

"Again. ETR?" I asked.

"10 seconds sir," he said.

"ETR?" Thea said with a raised eyebrow.

"Estimated time of recharge," I replied.

"Sir, the EMP is ready," said Ray.

Russell then accelerates until he was out of the EMP's range.

"Thea, he's out of the EMP's range. I need you to get closer to him," I ordered.

"On it," she replied. As the rev-counter needle pointed towards the redline, she hit the clutch and shifted Ray into 4th gear.

"Try not to miss this time," I advised.

Russell was finally locked on when he stopped changing lanes randomly.

"Target locked, sir!" Ray alerted. I pressed the 'fire' button to discharge the pulse. Russell was hit. The pulse's energy was so strong, it shook his car, making him swerve. As he tried to regain control of his car, he crashed into a wall. The car was now immobile.

"Hussein, suspect vehicle has crashed. Tell your men to get ready and surround him," said Thea into the radio.

"Ten-four," replied Hussein.

The whole pack rushed and surrounded Russell and his car. We all got out of our cars (including me) with our weapons and... MP5 submachine guns? Wow, I really doubted that the police would bring such heavy firepower. Anyway, we all shielded ourselves behind the doors, just in case if Russell would pull off a stupid stunt.

"Brock Russell! Get out of the vehicle slowly with your hands where I can see 'em," Thea instructed. Russell came out slowly, slightly wounded on his forehead.

"Now put your hands on the roof frame," she instructed again as she came out of cover. Russell did what she told.

"Someone search him," Thea ordered. Hussein came out of cover and left his MP5 slinging on his shoulder. He searched Russell's both arms, his sides, and both of his legs. When Hussein checked the waist, the found the Glock which was use in the shootout Geronimo was involved in. Hussein took it out and tossed it aside. When Thea came to cuff him, she put her gun back in her holster and Hussein lend her a pair of handcuffs because she left her's in her desk drawer.

"Thanks Hussein," said Thea.

"Don't mention it," Hussein replied.

A little about the sergeant, he's 6 feet 4 inches, medium build, has the face of an anime character because he was a mix of Malay and Chinese except without the pointy chin because his was flat, and true almond-shaped eyes. He has a crew cut as a hairstyle.

As she turned to Russell, she said: "Brock Russell, you are under arrest for speeding, dangerous driving, hit and run and resisting arrest." She cuffed his hands as tight as the corners we took.

"Take this kitty litter back to Interpol HQ," she said to Hussein and handing him Russell.

"Hope you're worth the trouble you got us into. Watch your head," said Hussein as he put Russell in the highway patrol vehicle. It was followed by him getting in and drove away towards HQ. The rest of the Wolf Pack went back to their respective precincts.

"Nice driving back there, Thea," I complemented.

"It wasn't me alone, you know. If it wasn't for your assistance and Ray's weapons, I wouldn't have gotten this far," she replied as she picked up the Glock and bagged it.

"Brofist?" We both reached our fists and bumped them together.

As we walked towards Ray, Thea asked me something: "Seriously, can you really drive?"

"You should see me drive at Nürburgring and Spa-Francorchamps," I replied as we got into Ray.

We drove off back to HQ after that adrenaline-pumping chase. We treated ourselves with a couple of sodas to celebrate our victory.

**A/N: I think this is my longest chapter yet. Hope you all enjoyed it! Also hoped that it was whoopass enough for ya! Leave a comment if you will! *brofist***


	6. Chapter 6-A US Marine

**A/N: Chapter has been edited.**

** Disclaimers from past chapters are implemented here.**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**The US Marine**

**Interpol HQ**  
**8.27 p.m.**

While eating a burger and sitting at Thea's desk helping her type her daily mission report, both Geronimo and Trap went to interrogate Russell downstairs. We celebrated Russell's capture by having a light dinner at the bullpen.

"Done! Now I can finally eat my burger," squeaked Thea hungrily as she clicked on the "save" button and unwrapped her burger.

"How's your burger, Benjamin?" I asked.

"It tastes awesome! Where'd you even get this stuff anyway?" Replied Benjamin.

"These Malaysian-styled burgers are sold at a little stall two miles back. Here, these kind of burgers are called '_burger bakar_'..." I informed. As the elevator doors opened, Geronimo and Trap came out and walked towards their own desks.

"Any luck with Russell?" I asked Geronimo as I took another bite of my burger.

"I'm afraid not. He said he was too traumatized and injured to give a statement. Especially when he hit those two cars and crashing into that barrier after the both of you EMP'd him," he answered as he sat down at his desk.

"Maybe it's because of the electromagnetic shock. The residue of the EMP must've hit his body and it went directly to his brain, damaging the hippocampus," I stated while my mouth was full (I know it's rude, don't be so judgy).

"He's being taken to the hospital for further treatment. Right now, there's nothing we can do until he recovers," said Trap as he sat down.

"Correction Trap; you and I have a summary report to write," said Geronimo. As he turned to Thea: "You on the other hand, can go back home with Danny since you're done with yours."

As we were given permission to go back to my quarters, we bid our farewells, we took the elevator downstairs and hopped into Ray.

* * *

We took the Federal Expressway back home but, because of a 3-car pile up had happened several miles ahead which Ray detected, we got stuck in traffic. Luckily, I had imported a few new tracks from the early 90s (FYI, I love the music from that era) into Ray's infotainment system. Thea however, her face expression looks like she dislikes my taste of music.

"Alright, I can't take this any longer. No offense Danny but, you really have a bad taste in music," complained Thea as the stereo started playing "Please Forgive Me" by Bryan Adams.

"Ooo...kay, some taken. But how come? This was a popular rock song," I replied.

"Rock song? Ugh... This song is too mushy to be a rock song," said Thea as the verse of the song started playing.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"Just listen to it! "It still feels like our first night together"? Oh come on..." She whined as the verse almost ended.

"But... The chorus is when you start to rock out," I said. As the chorus started, I sang along. "So if you're feelin' lonely, don't!"

"Okay, besides this horrible song, you have a really horrible singing voice," she whined again. Then, the unimaginable happened. She touched the stop button on Ray's pop-up infotainment screen in the middle of the chorus' climax!

"What are you doing?! That was the best part of the song!" I said as I glared at her.

"That song doesn't even suite you, me, or the moment. I'm looking for a track that suites the mood... and your voice," said Thea.

"Yeah? What track would that be?" I teased.

After a short pause, she asked Ray; "Ray, how are the stars tonight?"

"Despite the light pollution from the traffic and surrounding buildings, the stars are still visible. Especially Polaris (the North Star) and the M36645752 cluster," Ray answered.

"Danny, is there anything more that I don't know about Ray?" She asked.

"Let me guess, you wanna watch the stars don't you?" I replied.

"Yup."

"In that case, I've installed a roof that glides away, leaving a soundproof skylight. The window tints have adjustable brightness filters, just in case if you want autopilot to take over. The floors have cosmos-themed lighting, for that outer space feeling."

"Activate all of those, I haven't seen the stars in a while..."

"You got that Ray?" I asked for confirmation.

"Yes, sir!" Ray replied.

Thea chose a song from one of my favorite artists, OneRepublic. She touched the screen, the stereo started playing "Good Life". Before it did, the blinds turned on, followed by the floor lighting. Finally, Ray activated the autopilot and the roof split in half horizontally and glided away, revealing the night sky. We pulled the levers on the side of our seats to make them lie down. I sang along with my mild-deep voice and American accent (I can do other accents too) when the verse started.

(**_Intro Drum Solo)  
Me: (starts to play air drums when the synths start playing)  
Thea: (starts whistling when second intro played)  
(Verse)  
Me: Woke up in London yesterday,  
Found myself in the city near Piccadilly  
Don't really know how I got here  
I got some pictures on my phone...  
New names and numbers that I don't know,  
Addresses to places like Abbey Road  
Day turns to night, night turns to whatever we want,  
We're young enough to say...  
(Chorus)  
Thea: Oh, this has gotta be the good life  
This has gotta be a good life,  
This could be really be a good life, good life  
Together (with me as deep backup voice) : Say "Oh, got this feeling that you can't fight  
Like this city is on fire tonight  
This could really be a good life, a good, good life...  
Oh, whoa, oh, whoa, oh, whoa, oh... (Shooting star passes by)_**

We finished the song and saw some constellations while seeing the stars. Orion especially.

About an hour later, we found ourselves getting sleepier and sleepier. The seats were to blame. It was in the most comfortable position for us to sleep in. That, and that the pile-up made us so bored and tired.

"*Yawn* I'm getting really tired," said Thea. "Ray, how many miles we have 'till we reach the pile-up?"

"Unfortunately Agent Stilton, we still have 5 more," answered Ray. "If traffic continues to keep up at this rate, we'll get to the mansion in about two hours."

She turned to me and asked: "What time time is it?

"9.07 p.m.," I answered. "It is getting pretty late."

"Well, I'm gonna turn in early. You should get some sleep too," suggested Thea.

"You go ahead. I'll turn in later."

"Okay. Good night..." Thea said as she rolled her body facing the door.

"Good night Thea..." I replied.

I got readjusted my seat to sitting position and turned on the passenger's holographic screen on the dashboard. I started to put commands into Ray's programming system to open up the Facebook app I downloaded. Oh, did I mention that it's powered by iOS? Heh, one of the advantages of being a software developer at Apple Incorporated. As I was saying, I was logging in (Ray has a built in network modem). As soon as I did, I saw a notification on the Messages button. I clicked on it and there was a message sent by a user named "Anonymous". Even the profile picture was a mask used in the Anonymous Group. The time stamp on the message said it was sent at 8 pm. The green dot was still there, which meant that the user is still online. His message read:

**_"DANIAL ARIF, WE HAVE A MESSAGE FOR YOU"_**

With the use of my chip, I began to have a conversation with the anonymous user, asking questions in exchange for answers that might lead me somewhere. I replied:

**_"Yeah? What Message would that be?"_**

**_"WE WILL HAVE OUR REVENGE!"_**

Despite the threatening reply, I didn't hesitate to have Ray to back trace the IP address.

"Ray, run a trace on this guy's IP address," I demanded.

"Right away, sir," he replied. I replied to Anonymous:

**_"Sounds more like a threat than a message to me. And what do you mean by 'we'?"_**

Ray got a hit on the continent Anonymous was in and informed me: "North America, isolating..."

**_"YOU KNOW VERY WELL THAT BY "WE" MEANS US"_**

Again, Ray got another hit; "United States, isolating..."

**_"Let me guess, you're one of The Technologists, correct?"_**

**_"VERY GOOD, MR ARIF."_**

**_"Who are you anyway?"_**

**_"THAT'S NONE OF YOUR CONCERN"_**

Ray got a hit again; "Eastern Seaboard, isolating..."

**_"So what are you trying to tell me, Mr Anonymous?"_**

**_"WE WILL HUNT YOU DOWN"_**

**_"OUR MASTER WILL HAVE HIS REVENGE!"_**

After that last sentence, Ray couldn't get a location of this "Anonymous" guy. He logged out before Ray could even pinpoint the exact location. A notification appeared at the top of the holographic display in the form of a banner. It read; "Trace incomplete".

"Trace incomplete," said Ray, "connection lost."

"Damn it!" I whispered. I took a screenshot of the conversation and saved it in the photo gallery. iCloud was enabled (yet untraceable), so that every iOS device I owned had the exact same photo.

I tried to sleep through the jam, but with all the honking going on outside, I just couldn't. Finally, I decided to hear some music to calm down my nerves. I put on my wireless headphones and paired them with Ray via Bluetooth. I tapped the "Music" app on the infotainment screen. I selected a calm and soothing song I could sleep to. Ray played Evanescense's band version of "My Immortal". I made the seat lie down and closed my eyes. The roof glided back into place, the floor lighting turned off but the window tints were still adjusted to dark.

We slept all the way to the mansion. With the clock showing half-past midnight, Ray woke us up when he parked at the front doorstep. We got out and thanked Ray for driving us home. We bid our good nights, and went straight for our bedrooms.

* * *

**Arif Mansion  
Sunday, 16 August, 2013.  
8.57 a.m.**

**Thea's Perspective**

I managed to wake up not as late as yesterday, but still a little late than Danny. It makes me wonder, how does he wake up 5 in the morning everyday? I guess I'll never know... But anyways, I was getting ready for the day ahead of me. Got dressed in my usual pink shirt with my black jacket over it, and a pair of black trousers. I equipped my SIG Sauer which I put on display on the mini-gun wall above the bedside table and took my badge. I headed out and walked down the stairs. J-Son greeted me on the way down.

"Good morning, Agent Stilton," said J-Son.

"Good morning, J-Son," I greeted.

"You look very lovely today," J-Son complemented.

"Thanks! You like my new jacket?" I asked.

"It certainly looks stunning on you," he replied.

I noticed that Danny wasn't anywhere in the house. So I asked; "Hmm... Hey J-Son, any idea where Danny is?"

"I thought you might ask me that," he said. "He's in the west yard."

"Thanks again, J-Son."

"My pleasure, Agent Stilton."

I stepped out of the house through the front door. The lawn surrounding the front yard was trimmed off, below average height. Then I heard a sound of a machine turning on, very much like a chainsaw or a lawn mower. I walked towards the noise and found out that it was Danny, tried to start his full-length chainsaw. He was about to trim one of the hedge trees surrounding the property. He wore a green forest camo tank top with tight black separate sleeves, a black pair of black trousers with neon green stripes, and a pair of work boots. Come to think of it, I think I have the same chainsaw as his back at New Mouse City which use for cutting down mid-sized trees in my past time there. It weighed at least 30 pounds. Who knew a 13 year old would have such strength.

"Finally, your up," he said as he pulled the starter chord.

"Trying to start the chainsaw, I see?" I replied.

"Yeah. I haven't used it in while. I thought I'd give it a spin. There's a cup of hot-melted cheddar and a plate of French toast on the round table. I'll join you after I finish...(pulls the starter chord again)...trimming this hedge tree."

I turned my head towards the mid-sized round table a few feet way from him. What perfect spot to have hot cheddar, under the shadow a big, shady tree. I walked slowly towards the table when I saw an M4 CQB on it. Sitting next to it was a Glock 18 machine pistol, and my cup of cheddar of course. I picked up the carbine rifle to take a look.

"Nice guns," I started as I looked at the gun's curves and edges.

"What? These? They're nothing actually. Just got 'em by doing some heavy lifting-"

"No, I wasn't not talking about those! I was talking about these," I said as he looked at me.

"Oh, those. Those are just airsoft guns I bought a few months ago," he said as he pulled the starter chord. Again. "Before I mowed the lawn, I was target practicing to see if my aim is still okay."

"And the result?"

"Scoresheet's under the Glock." I removed the machine pistol which weighted down the scoresheet. The middle circle of the bullseye was completely shot missing. Get it? It was shot until the circle was missing. It's not a joke, I'm just getting everything straight, just in case you don't understand.

"Looks like you still got it," I complemented.

"Thanks," Danny replied.

"You've got a good choice for attachments," I said as I took aim of the carbine. "An AN-PEQ-5 laser module, an EoTech 552 holographic sight, and a foregrip." I got so distracted by the M4, I completely forgot about my cup of cheddar.

"Well, what can I say... I'm a supercar AND weapons enthusiast."

I asked if he needed some help with his chainsaw because he's been on that thing for a while. "You need some help with that?"

"Yeah, I can't get this thing...(pulls the chord)...to start," he said. "Damn it! Why won't you start?!" I knew he was stressed because of the way he pulled that chord thrice, vigorously.

"Check the fuel tank, maybe it ran out of gas," I said as I got closer to him.

"Huh, why haven't I thought of that?" He put down the chainsaw and walked towards the gardening shed to picked up a red jerry can. He got back and inserted the nozzle into the fuel tank.

"That should do it," he said as he put the can away. He put his left hand on the carrying handle and pulled the chord again, this time, it finally started. He pulled the trigger on the chainsaw to rev up the two-stroke engine.

"HAHA! That's what I'm talkin' about!" He exclaimed after the success.

"Now if you'll excuse me, my cheddar's getting cold and I'd like to enjoy it before it freezes."

"Sorry if distracted you somehow!" He shouted over the revving of his chainsaw. He started trimming away the overgrown leaves and branches on the hedge tree, swinging the chainsaw blade up and down.

* * *

**My Perspective  
5 minutes late**r

"Finally, I'm done..." I said tiredly as I sat down the chair opposite of Thea, who re-melted her cheddar, sipping it.

"I saved you a piece of French toast," she squeaked.

"Thanks," I replied. I took a bite of the toast and said: "So, did Geronimo send any updates on Russell's condition while I was busy?"

"Not yet. He's still working on the court order I asked him to get for you."

"About what? I asked as I munched on.

"After the car bombing the night Martinez and Russell broke into your house, I requested Geronimo to get an order from the World Court for you to carry and wield a fully-automatic weapon in public. The High Council is still in the process of approving it."

"Then they better make it quick, because last night when we were traveling home, I got this message in Facebook." I took out my iPhone from my pocket and opened up Photos, and showed her the screenshot of the conversation I took. She read the whole thing.

"This doesn't look good," she said worriedly as a response.

"Ya think?" I said as I finished my French toast.

"I'll have Benjamin to trace down the connection-"

"Don't bother. Ray already tried the same thing-but he logged out before Ray could even establish an exact location."

"I'll inform G and see what he can do to speed up the approval."

"Great idea..." I agreed.

"There's one thing that I don't get though..."

"What?"

"What do you think he meant by 'Our Master'?"

"I don't know. Maybe the leader of the group?"

"If that's true, what does he have against you?"

"It's either the chip he wants, or revenge-"

"Maybe both."

After a short pause, Thea's cellphone rang. I assumed that Geronimo was calling.

"Excuse me, Danny," she said as she took out her cellphone. She took a glance at the caller ID and announced who called; "It's Geronimo."

"So my guess was correct," I said to prove that I knew.

As she picked it up, she put it on loudspeaker greeted her brother; "What's up, G?"

"Thea, Russell has fully recovered and has been given permission to leave the hospital," Geronimo started. "Since he's in our custody, Benjamin and Trap are transporting him here for interrogation."

"What do you want us to do?" I interrupted.

"Ah, Danny. I see you're with Thea. I need you both to get down here. You might be of help to us."

"We're on our way," said Thea.

"Geronimo, wait! Before you hang up, could you enable FaceTime and video call Thea? I want to show you something." How do I know he uses an iPhone you ask? I saw him use it to text to his grandfather. Anyway, I unlocked my cellphone's screen which revealed the screenshot of the threat while Thea picked up Geronimo's video call.

"Can you see this?" I asked as I faced the photo to the front camera.

"I can," he replied. "Hold on, let me take a screenshot of it." He took it and minimized the FaceTime screen and went to Photos, to view the screenshot. He frowned. "When did you get this?" His tone was somewhat worried.

"Last night, while cruising our way home," I replied.

"This is one of the reasons you need to speed up the court order approval," Thea interrupted.

"I'll see what I can do," he replied.

"Is that all?" I asked.

"Yes. In the meanwhile, be safe. Arm yourselves with high-caliber weapons," he advised.

"Will do," replied Thea as she terminated the call. "C'mon, we gotta move."

"Just let me go freshen myself up," I asked as we walked to the front door.

"Okay, but make it quick," she said. "I'll be waiting in the living room."

* * *

The wall clock in my room had already pointed its hands at the 9.47 position when I entered it. I got showered and dressed as fast as I could. I wore a pair of dark blue slim fit Levi's jeans on the bottom, a slim fit black printed t-shirt that says "Im'ma Real Racer" with a long-sleeved black and white plaid shirt over it which I left unbuttoned and folded the sleeves folded all the way up to the half of my upper arms on the top, and a pair of red Converse sneakers accompanied by a pair of black socks for footwear. Don't try to guess or ask what I wear on the inside. After I combed my hair to make it look like Hawaii Five-0's Danny Williams' hair, I equipped my USP45 with its holster onto my belt and attached my ammo holder (which was designed me) to it that held the extra ammunition. It had a 5 hollow pockets, and two Velcro straps at the back. I added the spare ammo count to four mags, bringing a total of 48 rounds just in case anything ugly happens.

I ran down the stairs when I saw Thea watching CNN on my smart TV. She asked me; "We're all set?"

I turned to her and answered; "Yup. Let's roll!" She turned off the TV with a gesture of five fingers turning into a fist. As Thea followed behind me, we walked to the elevator. I put my eye in front of the retinal scanner and the elevator door opened. We both stepped in and went down into the garage.

We climbed into Thea's tornado red Dodge Charger and she started the 5.7L V8 HEMI engine. As always, the runway lights turned on, shining bright, white light. In the following sequence, the garage door opens, revealing the daylight. We drove off of the property and onto the street. The car screeched as it got of the curb and onto the asphalt. I made Thea stop by a roadside food stall that sells '_nasi lemak_', a very popular dish in Malaysia. Trap wanted to taste some so he asked me to get some for him.

We took our usual route to the HQ, the wide, four-lane, Federal Expressway. Because of the other people had already gone to work as early as 6 am, the road was almost empty during that time. No heavy traffic whatsoever, which gave Thea an opportunity to speed like a FIA GT1 race car driver . Like I said before, it was totally fine for me. I just wished that I was doing that with MY cars. She overtook cars from the left side though, which is illegal in the country. I told her to do otherwise.

* * *

**Interpol HQ  
11.42 a.m.**

We got into the building and went through a security check. We dropped everything we had in our pockets into a basket, including our weapons, ammunition and Trap's nasi lemak-and my belt. They went into an X-ray scanner like the ones at the airport while we were being searched with a metal detector. After the metal stuff had been checked out, we put everything back on, especially my belt before my pants fall off in front of Thea. I had been given an all-access visitor's pass by the security enforcer. I clipped it onto my shirt on the left chest pocket. We entered the elevator and elevated to the squad room floor.

As Thea and I exited the elevator, we saw that everyone was gathered at the bullpen, discussing about Russell. It was such a big deal to them, because they've finally got him in custody after being 10 whole years of being in Interpol's top 10 most wanted list.

"What?" I started as Thea and I approached their bullpen. "No celebration for the capture of one of Interpol's most wanted?"

They all looked at us and Benjamin started; "Hey Danny and Aunt Thea!" I waved back while Thea gave a two-fingered salute.

Geronimo continued; "Well, we were planing a dinner tonight. I thought that you might join in."

"I'd be more than happy to," I replied.

"So, how's Russell?" Thea interrupted.

"He's in the interrogation room, bandaged on his head," he answered. "We'll start interrogating him in 10 minutes."

I turned to Trap and said; "Hey, Trap! I've got your _nasi lemak_." I put it on his desk, accompanied with a plastic spoon.

"Oh wow! This'll taste awesome!" Exclaimed Trap. "How much do I owe ya?"

"Don't worry, it's on the house," I replied gladly.

"Thanks Danny!" He unwrapped the banana leaf which unveiled the rice and the _sambal_. He grabbed the spoon. "Umm... How do I eat this?"

I gave him a little giggle out the nostrils and explained; "You mix the rice with just a little bit of _sambal_. THEN you eat it."

"Alrighty then..." He started mixing a handful of sambal to the rice. Little does he know that a even a tiny splodge of it can make person's stomach to ache. Or in this case, a mouse.

"Uh... Are you sure you want to do that?"

"What? This thing ain't that spicy, isn't it?"

"Believe me, it is."

"Relax, I can take it. Besides, Benjamin says that the more sambal you add, the sweeter the rice."

"Benjamin?" I said as I turned my head towards him. He gave me a smile and gestured a finger over his mouth to keep me quiet.

I turned back to Trap. "I have to warn you, if you do this nobody will be able to understand what you're saying."

"Why not?"

"Because, your tongue would be numb all day."

"Ah baloney..."

"Suite yourself, don't say I didn't warn you..." I walked away towards Benjamin's desk. He was busy surfing the net on his Ben Pad, reading about the Hennessey Venom GT on Wikipedia.

"Let me guess, you deliberately got him to ask me to buy him _nasi lemak_ and told him to add more _sambal_ so you can get him back for the prank he pulled during the beginning of summer, right?" I asked Benjamin.

"You just read my mind, literally," replied Benjamin. Trap started to scarf down the food as if he was a hobo who hasn't eaten in weeks.

"Well, his mouth should explode in about... now." We turned our attention to Trap, whose face glowed red.

"AHHHHHH! MY MOUTH IS ON FIRE!" Trap screamed. He immediately unscrewed cap of the bottle of mineral water, gulping it. I chuckled while shaking my head, having my eyes closed. As for Benjamin, he burst into laughter, thumping his fist on his desk. Thea laughed normally while looking at Trap. Geronimo let out a little "hmph" and smiled.

As Benjamin stopped laughing and said to Trap while wiping away his tears; "Man, you should've seen your face..."

"You were red as Geronimo's tie..." Thea said as she stopped laughing.

"With smoke coming out of your ears," I added.

"Yeah, yeah... Whatever..." Trap responded as his face's fur returned to its natural color, bright orange and white.

Ten minutes went by. Geronimo decided to start the interrogation. We all went downstairs to watch.

* * *

**Interrogation Room  
11.52 a.m.**

It was Thea's turn to interrogate again. Geronimo, Trap, Benjamin and myself watched in the next-door observation room. Russell was wounded on his head-he had a piece of cotton taped on the wound. I was really hoping she wouldn't involve any violence, like what happened with Fernando. Anyway, Trap and Benjamin started placing bets on what will happen in the interrogation.

"Twenty bucks if she starts slamming the table," Trap predicted.

"Thirty if she throws the table away," predicted Benjamin.

Out of the blue, Geronimo joined the betting; "Fifty if she interrogates in a calm orderly fashion and doesn't involveviolence."

Then they all looked at me awkwardly. I felt weird and asked; "What?"

Benjamin replied; "Aren't you going to bet?"

"Muslim here, remember?"

"Ah..."

Thea steps in the interrogation room, closing the door behind her. She brought a file in as well.

"So we meet again, Agent Stilton," started Russell in his British accent.

"Hello Russell," replied Thea as she walked towards the chair opposite of him, giving him a disgusted look on the way.

"This has been our second meeting in person, yes?" Russell continued. Thea kept quiet.

"Russell, Russell, Russell... We've finally got you after ten years. I just want to say thanks for sort of helping us take down some of the terrorist organizations you formerly worked with," said Thea as she sat in front of Russell, putting the file and her forearms on the table, twiddling her thumbs. "Tell me, how'd you pull it off?"

"If you must know, all it took me was just a name change, a disguise and a voice changing module on my neck every time the leader of the organization wants to see me," he answered. "For the record, haven't you been hunting me down for only 3 years... Probie?"

"For the record, it's ten years for the agency and I'm no longer a probationary officer."

"So you got promoted... Congratulations! So, to what pleasure do I owe you?"

"Information..." Thea replied while taking out a photo from the file. She showed the threatening message. "I want to know what this is all about."

He read and studied the photo carefully. "I've seen this before. This is one of The Technologist's methods of sending 'messages'."

"That's what I wanted to hear..."

"But, this is just the first level. They'll send a threat through any form of communication. Text, Facebook, email, mail, anything."

"How many levels are there?"

"Honestly, I don't really know. Unless the person in question surrenders his or herself or the equipment that they want, they'll keep raising it until it gets worse, and worse, and worse."

"What do they usually send as 'messages'?"

"Umm... Let me see," said Russell. I saw his eyes rolling to the right. "Right, there were car bombings, armed assaults, street fights, taking hostage of the people they love, car chases... Who knows what they might pull this time."

"In what order do they come?"

"They're random. But, they'll arrange them in order of intensity for special targets. The hostage taking maybe the most intense level."

"Hmm..."

"Is there anything more you want to ask me?"

"No. That'll be all. Thank you for your time."

"Hold on a minute. I just want to warn you, that they'll do anything-and I mean ANYTHING to get their hands on that chip. I had snooped around at their base and they're planning something huge with it."

"And your advice is?"

"Unless you and Danial in the other room there arm yourselves with carbine rifles, the both of you are in terrible danger." I was confounded. How'd he know my name? More important, how'd he know about the chip? Oh wait, I forgot he was a spy, working for The Technologists.

"Thanks again for your time."

"Send my regards to Danial." Thea got off her chair and exited the room. Russell looks right into my face from the other side of the one-way glass and gave me a two-fingered, wrist-flicking salute with a grin on his face. I looked at the group strangely, asking what was happening by using body language. They all replied with the usual shrugging and raised arms, with some head-shaking as a sign of un-acknowledgement.

Thea joined us in the observation room and asked; "You believe in this guy, Geronimo?"

"His eyes were looking to the right when he stated the form of the 'messages'," answered Geronimo seriously.

"He was recalling something from his mind. He was telling the truth," I interrupted.

"So, about the court order," Thea continued.

"I've spoken to the people at the World Court during the interrogation. I told them to let Danny use the best weapon type."

"Great. I'll see you back in the squad room," said Thea. Geronimo nodded and we both left.

At a few feet outside from the observation room, my enhanced hearing caught Geronimo saying to both Benjamin and Trap; "You two owe fifty dollars."

* * *

**Bullpen, Squad Room  
A few hours later  
2.09 p.m.**

After a few hours after the interrogation, Benjamin started to scroll through Fernando's financial activities. Right now, he's in year 2005 of Fernando's credit card statements. While that was going on, I was challenged by Thea to an arm wrestling contest. She told me that she had the idea after seeing me lifting my 30 pound chainsaw this morning. We got ourselves a chair and sat opposite of each other. Trap wanted to be the referee.

"Put 'em up," ordered Trap.

I took off my plaid shirt and hung it on the chair, leaving behind my black "Im'ma Real Racer" t-shirt. I rolled the right sleeve up to my shoulder, exposing my upper arm. Thea on the other hand, took off her black jacket, with only her short-sleeved pink polo shirt on. We sat down and put out elbows on the desk, and gripped each other's hands.

"Alright, I want a clean match. I don't wanna see or hear any whimpering, screaming or tap-outs. I'm looking at you Danny," he mocked.

"Can we just get this over with?" I said. Trap then puts his hand on ours and started to count down.

"Ready... 3,2,1... GO!" The moment he let go of our grip, we struggled to get each other's hands to touch down the desk.

"Great mother of cheese, you're pretty strong... for a female mouse," I commented while panting. Trap said my face turned red as his when he ate that sambal.

"You're not to bad yourself... for a 13 year old," she replied.

We both struggled for just a couple of seconds, when Thea showed signs of giving up. My hand was about to make her's to touch the desk.

"Giving up?" I asked teasingly.

"NEVER! I shall not lose to you, little boy!" She responded.

Meanwhile, I overheard Geronimo talking into the phone.

"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, he's right here, arm wrestling with my sister. Yes, she's strong. Uh huh. I'll tell him. Okay, thanks." I assumed that it was either good news or bad news. He continued; "I just got off the phone with the World Court."

"What'd they say?" Thea asked, grunting.

"Good news, they've approved the request I sent. They let the both of you use full auto weapons."

"Really?" It got me off guard, my biceps relaxed itself, giving Thea an advantage to push my arm in the opposite direction.

"Aaarrrggghh!" Thea screamed while fighting against my arm. Before I even know it, I heard a thump on my right side of the desk. I looked at back and saw that the back of my hand was already on the desk, indicating that I lost.

Thea let out a sigh of of relief and said while panting; "*Pant, pant* Like I said, I can't lose to a boy," she bragged.

"What? No fair! Geronimo distracted me," I whined.

"And the winner!" Trap announced while raising Thea's hand.

We put back on what we took off, and Geronimo continued; "Ahem, as I was saying, they've added conditions and restrictions the the weapons. In this case, you're given the freedom to use any pistol, machine pistol, SMG (submachine gun) and personal defense weapons (PDWs), nothing else. Some of the conditions are:

1\. The magazine capacity should not be more than 50 rounds,  
2\. The ammunition type you should only use are fully-metal jacketed,  
3\. The rate of fire of your weapon must not be more than 1500 rounds per minute."

"What about attachments?" I asked.

"You can equip any attachment known to mice, or man in this case. No restrictions whatsoever," he replied.

"Awesome! I can finally test out the guns my dad inherited to me," I said enthusiastically.

Suddenly, the ringtone of Geronimo's iPhone sounded. It played the song "Crawling" from Linkin Park.

He picked up and answered; "This is Stilton..."

I overheard the caller's voice. It was Pandora. I couldn't quite make out what she said though, and I refused to use my enhanced hearing. You know why, privacy reasons.

"Uh huh. Yeah. I'll tell him. Mm-kay, bye." He hung up, turned to me and said; "That was Pandora. She needs your "technological and weaponry expertise" down at the garage."

I was confused. Why would she need that kind of knowledge?

So I asked; "Huh? What's she doing down there anyway?"

"She's investigating Russell's stolen Audi," he answered.

"Looks like she's found something important," I replied. "Later guys!"

I took the employee's elevator down. I scanned my badge where the buttons should be. Once the doors opened, I got in and the doors closed. It took me 4 floors before I got to the garage.

"You needed me, Pandora?" I asked as I exited the elevator. She was under the car, lying down on a mechanic's creeper. Not the Minecraft Creeper, the one mechanics use to rest on their backs when they go under cars. Anyway, she was wearing a deep blue mechanic jumpsuit.

"Yeah... There's something interesting stuff I found on Russell's car. But first, help me up," she squeaked as she rolled out from underneath the car. I grabbed her hand... paw I meant, and pulled her up to her feet-paws, I meant. Why do I always get these things mixed up?

"Well, I have to say that the car is durable when it comes to collision. Only some dents to the hood and bumper," she stated.

I was dumbfounded. Russell was traveling 170 miles an hour when he hit that civilian vehicle!

"Impossible! He hit two cars and a barrier at high speed," I denied.

"That's why you're here," she squeaked. "I wanted to know if this was made from a high-density material. I tried looking for it in our databases. No match."

"It could be, but all high density metal are heavy," I replied.

"I know, right? But that's not all. Watch this..." She walked towards the front end of the car and disassembled the hinges that held the hood together with the car. The. She lifted the hood right off and set it aside. My jaws dropped. I scratched my head in confusion.

"Okay... How?"

"I don't know - you tell me..."

"Let me have a look at that." I picked the hood up. I found that it was weightless. By weightless, I mean as light as a feather. "Well, this concludes it. It's made out of carbon fiber."

"But carbon fiber is as fragile as glass. How come this one's lightly damaged?"

"I don't know. But I think I've heard of something like this. It's called high-resistant carbon fiber. It's used in some new cars to avoid internal damage. If the hood is made out of this, this may imply on the car's other body panels."

"I think what's under the hood is why Russell installed this. Take a look at the engine." Both of us walked towards the engine bay. I took a peak and I couldn't believe my eyes.

I gaped and said; "What in the name of automotive engineering..." In that engine bay was the heart of an SRT Viper GTS. Also known as, the Viper V10. It had two mid-sized superchargers. I turned to Pandora and said; "What is this beast doing in the inside of a sports station wagon?"

"I'm not sure. But what I am sure of that this is how Russell escaped Fernando."

I stared at the twin-turbo 8.4 liter engine for a while. From the red-painted cylinder heads with the "Viper" initials etched on it, down to the exhaust system.

"This beast can generate up to 600 horsepower. With these two superchargers injecting air into the combustion chamber, it'll boost the power up to a 200 horsepower each, totaling over 900 horses of power output," I calculated. Then I saw a little bit of street-racing tech. A little piece of cable, branching towards each of the cylinders.

"The cables attached to the cylinders - what are they exactly?" Pandora asked. I turned on my X-Ray vision to see what she saw.

"I don't know-but my x-ray vision tells me that they lead to the trunk," I answered.

"Let's go take a look then..." Pandora opened up the trunk from the driver's seat while I scampered to the boot. She soon followed afterwards and stood beside me.

"Gloves," I requested while handing out my right hand. She took out a pair out of her left abdominal pocket of her jumpsuit and handed them over to me. I put them on. "Let's see what's under here..." I said. I lifted up the lid and again, as I took a look what was under, I was speechless. Totally mindblown.

"Whoa, I never saw that coming," said Pandora. Three tanks of nitrous oxide, sitting in the middle of the trunk-each tank containing 1.5 liters of that substance. "Another reason why Fernando was eating Russell's dust."

"With this much nitrous, he can speed up to 219 mph for 6 seconds per tank.

"Meaning that he can't use them all at once?"

"Yup. If he does, the V10 will overheat-risking to have a blown engine."

After quite a silence, Pandora squeaked; "Oh-before I forget, there's another thing I want to show you."

"What is it?" I asked.

"Remember the 16 .50 cal slugs we pulled out off Fernando's Mitsubishi the other day?" She spoke as she walked slowly to the driver's seat.

"What about 'em?" I said while taking off the gloves.

"Watch this..."

She sat in the driver's seat, but I didn't really know exactly what she did in there. Then, out of nowhere, four muzzle-like objects (two on each side) appeared on the RS6's rear bumper-just under the outer taillight. They look awfully familiar. The part of the bumper where the muzzles came out slid aside.

"Alright, what are these?" I asked.

"First, you might wanna step away," she answered.

"Why should I?"

"Because... I matched the .50 cal slugs to these. They're custom-made heavy machine guns, Danny."

"Whoa!" I quickly slid myself to the driver's side, to avoid being shot. I turned on my X-ray vision so I can see the feed system and how it's operated. "According to my X-ray vision, these are belt-fed and recoil-operated," I said. I joined Pandora, standing beside her while she sat inside the cockpit. I said to her; "What did you do to activate those?"

"The infotainment system, of course. There's a custom app which let's the driver activate the weapon system. I'm pretty sure this isn't Audi's," she squeaked as she tapped on an icon labeled 'weapon system'. "I also found this custom function which enables the projection of a heads up display on the windshield." She pressed a button on the screen, enabling the HUD. The background of each display is colored light blue. It displayed:

1\. The speed and rev-counter (with the numbers inside the rev-counter, positioned at the right-bottom corner of driver's side of the windshield)  
2\. Body armor integrity (positioned on the bottom of the windshield)  
3\. Ammunition count (which is currently 0/300 rounds, positioned on top-right corner of the windshield)  
4\. Nitrous gauge (placed around the rev-counter)  
5\. Mini-map with compass (placed on the left-bottom corner of the windshield)  
6\. Turbo gauge (a little circle placed beside the rev-counter)  
7\. Weapons (placed on top-left corner. Equipped: rear machine guns. Unequipped: front machine guns, EMP, spikes strips)

"You see the thumb rests on the steering wheel? They're actually the triggers for the machine guns, touch-activated. So if I do this, it should fire the machine guns," she said as she demonstrated and put her thumbs on the the thumb rests. The ammunition count blinked red every time Pandora tries to fire. Just like my father's Panamera, I thought to myself.

"To change weapons, just slide your index finger on the right side of the wheel for the next weapon, and slide on the left side for the previous weapon," she squeaked as she demonstrated. Just like my dad's Panamera, I thought to myself again.

"Could you do me a favor Danny?" Pandora asked me.

"Sure, what do I have to do?" I answered.

"First, you don't have any pictures of supercars on your cellphone by any chance?"

"Actually, I do."

"Good. Now just stand in front of the car and pick out a photo of any car. Make sure to keep a distance."

"Okay..." I did what she told me to do. I walked away a few feet and picked an image of my favorite supercar in the world, the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. Then, Pandora started snapping a photo of me with her DSLR camera through the windshield. She asked me to come back afterwards.

"Come look at this," she said. I stared at the picture, feeling shocked. The HUD displayed the info of the Bugatti.

"Whoa, augmented reality display..." I said.

"I know right. Projecting optical illusional information on a flat surface so it seems that you're looking at it at a distance," she explained. She was right, the augmented reality display displays the information using optical illusions so that it looks like you're looking at an the displayed info at a distance. For instance, remember in the 2012 Need For Speed Most Wanted they made an objective display a few miles way from the car? That's what it looked like.

But one question remains, how does Russell have all the technology that my dad and I do?

"I'm not feeling very amazed though. Rather questioned," I said.

"How come?" Pandora asked.

"The-the-the machine guns, the EMP, the-the HUD-" I stammered. "I have all this tech at home, in my garage. This is all MY vehicle tech! Now why would Russell have all this if it isn't known by any other people in the world?"

"A mole, maybe?"

"I'd thought you might say that. So did Thea..."

"Then we need to find out who it is."

"And fast. If all my inventions are leaked to The Technologists, I'm done for..."

Pandora gave me a pat on the back and said; "Don't worry Danny. We all got your back."

"That... actually made me feel good. It even cheered me up a little bit."

"Good to hear. Let's go back up the squad room and tell everyone about this."

"You already photographed all of this? The guns? The light hood?"

"Yup."

"Then let's move-"

"Hold on a minute-let me take off this jumpsuit..." She crawled out of the car (well, she didn't actually crawl out of the car, just showing a way of getting out) and unstrapped the Velcro belt. I stopped her as she got her hand on the zipper.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa! Are you sure you want to do that HERE?" I said while pointing towards the floor.

"What? I'm wearing clothes under this jumpsuit Danny. Why in the name of Gouda would I do this if I wasn't wearing anything on the inside? Geez, don't be silly Danny," she responded. My face turned red from embarrassment.

Pandora crawled out of the jumpsuit, looking relived (maybe because of her body heat being trapped inside, making her uncomfortable). She took out the memory card out of the DSLR camera she used to take the pictures. We got into the elevator after Pandora scanned her eyes. We got in and discussed about the Russell's Glock that Thea picked up after the pursuit.

"Oh yeah, about Russell's gun..." I started.

"Well, I tried to find the owner by tapping in the serial number into Glock's purchasing records..." She answered.

"And the result?"

"I couldn't because the numbers were filed off. Sooo... There's no way of telling if the gun was stolen or not."

"Oh..."

The elevator stopped on our floor. We scampered out to the bullpen to tell the gang about Russell's car.

"Yo guys! We're done with Russell's car," I shouted over the squad room while jogging to the bullpen.

"You're never gonna believe what we found," shouted Pandora.

As we both arrived at the bullpen, I asked Pandora for her camera and took out the memory card.

"Put this on the plasma for me," I demanded. He slid it into a memory card reader and pulled the images we took from it.

Pandora grabbed and started; "It all starts with this..."

We explained to the whole team about Russell's car and hinted the theory that we had a mole amongst us or the people I'm close to. We took about 15 minutes.

"So, if Danny's tech isn't exposed to anyone else except us, who leaked it to him (Russell)?" Pandora asked rhetorically.

"This means we have a mole amongst us," Geronimo squeaked.

"Exactly," Pandora agreed.

"And we need to find and catch that mole fast," concluded Trap.

"Before anymore of his tech gets leaked to any of The Technologists scum-" Thea continued.

"And before any of the leaked tech gets reverse-engineered and eventually used against me," I interrupted.

"Talk about getting beaten by your own hand..." Thea said.

"I'll try and interrogate Russell tonight. Thea, Danny, you two can go home. You've done a lot for us today," squeaked Geronimo.

"Well, so much for that celebratory dinner we were gonna have... Anyways, you're welcome," I said.

As usual, we said good bye to each other and took the elevator back down. We hopped into Thea's Charger and zoomed off home. We made a stop to a pizza place a few minutes to home to get ourselves lunch.

As we arrived at the front gates the M4-wielding guards greeted us as our vehicle was being scanned. After the spike strips retracted themselves into the ground, Thea drove onto the courtyard and headed straight for the garage door. She took a precaution and drove slowly to avoid her car getting dirty. We entered the garage with Jason giving us the "welcome back" greeting as the cars tire touch the turntable (we heard him because the windows aren't soundproof). We greeted him back and rode the elevator back up to the living room.

* * *

**Thea's Perspective  
Arif Mansion  
3.06 p.m.**

Ugh! Finding a way to the armory and the underground shooting range was a total disaster! There was a whole lot different rooms in the underground level. I walked through every twist and turn in the hallway until I finally gave up and asked J-Son for some help. Anyway, I was busy in the underground shooting range, shooting the silhouette of person with a Brügger and Thomet MP9 I borrowed from Danny (every shot I took of the 30 round magazine ended up piercing the head). I equipped it with a few attachments:

1\. An EOTech XPS2-Z2(TM) holographic sight on the top rail  
2\. A foldable shoulder stock  
3\. An extended 30-round magazine  
4\. A sling belt for carrying

When I was finally satisfied of my weapon and aiming skills, I went back upstairs with the submachine gun.

I rode the elevator back up to the living room and found Danny in front of his 90-inch Smart TV. What looked like a small briefcase was sitting beside him. He held a DUAL SHOCK(TM) 3 controller in his hands, playing Forza Motorsport 3 on a first-release PlayStation 3. You know, the giant, bulky ones from 2006. He was about to play a time trial round.

I interrupted; "You do know that there's a slimmer model of that thing?"

"I do. Just wanted to breakout this old thing," he replied. He sounded sad for some reason. "Besides, the PS4 is coming soon. Enjoying your MP9?"

"Yup. The most accurate B&amp;T has ever built. Thanks for letting me use it."

"Your welcome..."

"What gun did you choose?" He picked up the briefcase and showed it to me. He held the handle and flicked his arm. I was amazed that the briefcase was actually a foldable SMG.

"The Magpul FMG-9... Accurate, compact, concealable, and the most innovative weapon Magpul has ever built."

I squeaked after a moment of silence; "Forza 3?"

"Yeah..." He replied as he put down the unfolded SMG and started the time trial race.

I watched him race against a ghost car at Circuit de La Sarthe. Also known as, Le Mans. The nameplate above the ghost car says "Roy". Danny chose to race Roy in a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. The race started, both were in a head to head battle. I watched them pass the Dunlop Bridge, cornering through the chicanes and entering the Mulsanne Straight. Roy's ghost and Danny where neck and neck until he braked. It almost looked like he refused to even try and win the race. The same thing happened during the second straight, after the roundabout. In the third straight, he surpassed the ghost. But he slowed down and decelerated, letting Roy pass. His eyes turned red, same with his cheeks and nose. It looked like he was about to cry.

"Danny, you look miserable," I started softly. "You even sounded sad after I came out of the elevator." I walked closer to the sofa, putting my gun on the glass coffee table in front of me and sat beside him. I said to him; "C'mon, tell me what's going on."

He breathed in, clearing his throat and then breathed out. He gulped down some saliva and explained; "Back when my family was still alive-uh, my dad bought me this PS3 when my mom's cupcake business was starting to sell. We used to play with each other during the weekends. We had lots of fun during that time." He sobbed a little bit. Then he continued; "It was a tragedy when I lost him along with my sister and mother. I was devastated. After it all happened, I just couldn't touch the console for for two years. That is, until January. That's when I realized that we used to play a racing game, Forza 3. I meddled around, when I found his ghost. Literally. Ironic isn't it?" I smiled. He went on; "I continued playing in the weekends like we used to ever since. I started a race against his ghost, with me driving what I'm driving now, and him driving the Veyron Grand Sport. He lead the race until the Mulsanne Straight. I managed to catch up to him and surpassed his ghost due to my top speed advantage. I lead the whole race after that with the ghost staying half a second behind me. When we were both at the Ford Chicanes, I just realized something. I can't win. I braked right in front of the finish line. My front bumper almost went over it. I watched my dad's ghost, speeding through me and crossing the finish line."

I interrupted the story and asked; "Why'd you do it?"

"Because, I didn't want to get his ghost deleted. It reminds me that although he's gone, his ghost will still remain-racing on the track."

The story touched my heart. I started shedding tears but I quickly wiped them away.

He started crying as he said; "It really brakes my heart when I try to overtake him...(sobs heavily) I keep telling myself to stay behind, so I can see him..." Tears began flowing onto his cheeks as he closed his eyes. "Dad, why did you have to go?"

I pulled his head close to my shoulder and started to comfort him. "Their, their. It's alright... You've got me by your side," I squeaked. I gave him a gentle kiss on his head and wrapped my arm around his shoulder, hugging him tightly. We starred at the TV for a long time before Danny resumed racing his father's ghost.

* * *

**Geronimo's Perspective  
Interpol HQ-Interrogation Room  
7.58 p.m.**

I headed towards the interrogation room to squeeze more information out of Russell. I wanted to know everything he knows. By everything, I mean EVERYTHING. I brought along a tray with a plate of steak served with gravy and a side of coleslaw, and a glass of orange juice on it. Since Russell never ate anything after lunch, it will be inhuman of me (considering that I'm a mouse) if I didn't bring him any food.

I stepped in. Russell was reclining on the chair, sleeping like a log. The light from the lamp above shone on the table, and the room was silent. Only the sound of the air coming out of the air-conditioning system and Russell's snoring. Considering that I'm a gentle mouse, I decided to put down Russell's dinner on the table and tapped him on the shoulder to wake him up.

"Russell," I squeaked while tapping his shoulder. "Russell, wake up." He yawned and stretched his arms in the air, followed by rubbing him the palm of his hands.

"*Inhales deeply and moans* What time is it...?" He asked tiredly.

"It's a minute before eight in the evening," I answered as I checked my watch. "Hungry?"

"Starving..."

"Here, I brought in some food." I slid the tray in front of him.

"Mmm... Steak! My favorite..." He picked up the silverware and started to cut the meat piece by piece, putting them into his mouth.

"You're not eating?" He asked while chewing.

"No, no. I've already had dinner."

Russell started; "Oh god, what a bloody nightmare I had! I dreamt that I was in a town full of zombies-" I cut him off because it would be a waste of time listening to that story.

"Russell, I apologize but, as much as I like to hear your story, I really don't have the time."

"Then what are you here for?"

"I'm here to dig out more information from you."

"*Sighs through nostrils* The Technologists?" I gave him a nod and he continued; "What do you want to know?"

"Everything, starting from their base of operations."

"In that case, they've got bases all over the world. From Alaska, to Timbuktu. One main-base in every country, one sub-base in every state of that country. Their head-base is situated somewhere in America, but I'm not really sure exactly where, though."

"What about manpower?"

"Shockingly, for only 10 years they've recruited over 16 million people worldwide. All the physically fit people sit on the bottom of the organization. They're the goons of The Technologists, sent out to send messages by terrorizing targets' homes, beating up the target, and other things that goons are supposed to do. Men like me, sit in the middle part of the organization. Working inside, going on undercover missions, inspecting weapons and other stuff like that. Weak people however, work in the upper section of the organization. They sit in front of the computer screen, inventing new tech and weapons of mass destruction... Etc., etc."

"What weapons do they use?"

"Everything. From derringer pistols to SMGs, assault rifles to LMGs (light machine guns), grenade launchers to RPGs... Last I've heard, they acquired fifty RPG-7 rocket launchers, thirty M134 Vulcan miniguns, and ten M202 FLASH launchers that shoot 66mm incendiary rockets from an illegal arms dealer."

"What type of vehicles do they commandeer?" I visualized everything what Russell said next.

"They've got advanced vehicles. They travel by air, land, and sea. They've stolen 5, I repeat, x5 bloody military Black Hawks, thousands bloody of Audis, and hundreds of jet skis and dinghies. Better watch out for their air support, those Black Hawks are equipped with AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles and belt-fed machine guns."

"Land vehicles?"

"There's only one manufacturer they're interested in: Audi. They get their Audis by three ways: (while counting out with fingers) one, they steal any black Audi they see. They're very picky and will only steel high-performance, new-generation Audis. Two, they hire a car thief to steel the cars for them, and pay them after pulling off the job. And three, they send demands to a car theft syndicate and buying the cars from them for half the price.

"Do they modify them in any way?"

"Yes. They're tricked out and bloody fast. While in pursuit, they have heat levels so they can save the powerful cars for special occasions. Level 1, they deploy cars like the TTS and RS3, equipped with light weapons and light body armor. At level 2, they deploy lightly armed and armored TT RSs and S4s equipped with medium machine guns, and a jammer. Level 3 cars which includes my car such as the S5 and RS5, the S6 and RS6, the S7 and RS7. They're equipped with medium body armor, medium machine guns, jammers and protective glass. Level 4 is the level where you should start looking out for yourself. They deploy heavily-armored Audi S8s, armed with heavy machine guns, an EMP and a jammer. Level 5 is the last and most intense level. This is where you need to brace yourself because heavily armored Audi R8 V10s with .50 cal heavy machine guns, EMPs and jammers will start to engage on you. The drivers and pilots of this level are highly trained."

"What do you mean, pilots?"

"I forgot to mention that the one of the Black Hawks they stole will be chasing after you as well."

"Technology?"

"Everything is military spec when it comes to technology. Hundreds of supercomputers used in hacking, system hijacking and other stuff. They've weaponized the vehicles with HUDs and other techie stuff that I don't really know much about."

"What have they done recently involving their technology?"

"Last I've heard, they've managed to hijack a US governmental imagery satellite without detection. It's not tested yet though."

"Lastly, how do they gather intel?"

"That's pretty easy actually... There are tiers to the intel-gathering organization. The lowest tier are the spies that go out in the field. The second tier, consist of people who disguises as normal people in public and follow the target around, such as myself. The highest tier are the moles, staying close to the target and gathering trust as well as intel."

"You worked alone?"

"No, I had a partner but he's been missing for weeks. I was assigned to a new partner, his name was Martinez I think."

"I need the name of your old partner."

"He was a former US Marine, his name was Malcolm Calico."

"That's all I needed to know..." I got up and thanked Russell for his cooperation. He stopped me as I opened the door.

"WAIT! Don't you want to know about the boss?"

"No... I don't."

"What do you mean, no?"

"I already know about him..."

"How?"

"He... killed by best friend..." I walked out and headed towards the elevator.

I got back upstairs to the squad room to consult Benjamin. I needed him to search the name Malcolm Calico in the US Marine Corps' database.

"Benjamin, I need you to search a man named "Malcolm Calico" in the US Marine Corps' database."

"On it," he responded. He started typing on his keyboard. All I heard from his computer was an error alert. "Uncle G, I couldn't access any detailed information."

"Why not?"

"Because it's classified. Only people from the Corps and NCIS can access it."

"That won't be a problem then..."

"You know a person at NCIS?"

"The director to be exact. I'll phone him right now." I sat down at my desk and picked up the receiver and dialed the director, Leon Vance. His secretary picked up. She told me to wait as she redirected me to director. After I was redirected, I had a talk with him to get his agents to let us access Calico's information.

* * *

Haha! Another chapter ended! NCIS crossover coming up in next chapter!


	7. Chapter 7-I'm Special Agent Gibbs

**A/N: Chapter edited.**

**Disclaimers from past chapters will be applied here.**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**"I'm Special Agent Gibbs..."**

**Arif Mansion**  
**Monday, 17 August, 2013**  
**8.05 a.m.**

I've been up since 4 o'clock in the morning activating the custom weapons stashes I've built in the past month in all 500+ supercars in my garage. You heard me, I don't have to repeat. The garage was in service mode. So the whole garage was lit, so I can see what I'm working with. At the moment (while I was in my dark green woodland camo tank top), I was activating the stash of my 2013 Koenigsegg Agera R, cloning a pair of Glock 18 machine pistols and x12 31-round magazines into their molds of the stash. I was down to four more cars that included my four legends: The Bugatti Siblings. I gave them French names because they were French cars.

**Sibling #1: Diane, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4. Painted in Bugatti's famous black and red color scheme, she's a supercar who loves speed and she can be very shy if praised by her capabilities. Top speed: 262 mph. Lateral grip: 1.57 Gs. 0-60: 2.3 secs. Braking distance: 27 m. Max power output: 1170 bhp. Special features: has a custom sunroof.**

**Sibling #2: Anton, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport. He's a force to be reckoned with. He likes to drive with his targa top roof off, stares doom in the eye and loves action. He won't hesitate to take on jumps and speeds if things get hairy. He's painted in Bugatti's black/red color scheme, like Diane. Top speed: 267 mph. Lateral grip: 1.6 Gs. 0-60: 2.27 secs. Braking distance: 26.6 m. Max power output: 1190 bhp.**

**Sibling #3: Colette, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse. She's a female car but has a tomboyish personality. She's very much like Anton. Adventurous, fast... But she doesn't like cruising in public while her targa top roof is off. She's painted in Bugatti's traditional bluish black/light blue color scheme. Top speed: 272 mph. Lateral grip: 1.6 Gs. 0-60: 2.24 secs. Braking distance: 26 m. Max power output: 1290 bhp.**

**Sibling #4: Pierre, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport. He's the natural-born leader of The Bugatti Siblings. He's strict, tough, powerful, fast, and doesn't like to be questioned about his leadership. He'll do anything to protect his passengers and he's very obedient to his master, which is me, of course. He's painted in the World Record Edition color scheme (black and orange for the people that don't know). Top speed: 280 mph. Lateral grip: 1.7 Gs. 0-60: 2.2 secs. Braking distance: 25 m. Max power output: 1310 bhp. Special features: has a custom sunroof like Diane.**

Thea came down to the garage just in time to see me stick my butt out of Colette. I don't know why I was in that position when I activated her weapon stash... Oh well. After Thea came out of the elevator, she froze of amazement. I think it's the first time she's seen a Bugatti Veyron.

"Holy Swiss cheese! Is that... a Bugatti Veyron?" Thea asked.

"THE Bugatti Veyron, my dear Thea. The Grand Sport Vitesse to be exact," I answered. "First time seeing one, huh?"

"Well duh...! They're one in a million..."

"They're actually 1 in 300. Only 300 cars were built currently, you know."

"I'm just saying that they're rare on roads... Oh, people like you are very lucky," she said as she walked slowly towards Colette.

"I am indeed..."

"What are you doing in there anyway?"

"I'm activating the weapons stash in all my cars-ever since Geronimo told us about The Technologists' advance vehicle tech last night. I've been at this since four in the morning."

"Four in the morning? How much cars and energy you have?"

"Cars? Over 500. Energy? Don't be fooled by this 13 year old body. I've the strength of 3 men."

"But you still lost to me in that arm wrestling match..."

"Like I said, Geronimo distracted me."

"Whatever... What did you put in the stash?"

"Two Glock 18s along with a dozen 31-round mags."

"Good choice of weapons, I must say."

As I finished cloning the weapons, I got out of Colette and said; "I just noticed that I haven't introduced the two of you to each other yet. Thea, this is Colette. Colette, this is Interpol special agent, Thea Stilton."

"Bonjour Agent Stilton," greeted Colette.

"Oh, I forgot that Bugatti's are French. Bonjour Colette!" Thea said. "You know what? I've a friend named Colette."

"Yeah?" I said.

"She's a student of mine actually. I taught her journalism along with five other mouselings at Mouseford Academy."

"Really? On Whale Island?"

"So you've been reading my books?"

"That, and... Benjamin told me..."

"Ah..."

I shut the door on Colette, and I called Pierre out to be on the turntable. Colette started her 8.0 liter W16 engine and drove back into underground storage. The walls of the garage threw back echoes of the roar of her engine. Thea had to cover her sensitive mouse ears. The same happened when Pierre drove in. She uncovered them when Pierre turned his engine off.

"Sensitive ears, huh?" I asked.

"Yup... You should really put some kind of sound absorption in here. "

I opened Pierre's door and sat on the seat and left the door open. Considering that Pierre was half my height, I had to bend down as I went in. I activated the stash with my chip and touched the small Bugatti logo sitting in the middle of the rear console. A virtual numeric keypad lit up on the middle console. I typed in the passcode to unlock the stash. I tapped on the "OK" button and an unlocking sound was heard. I slid open a part of the console. Inside, the molds of a pair of Glock 18s were inside the console, the place where the guns and ammunition are kept. I aimed my handheld cloner on my hand and selected a saved cloning file labeled: "Glock18 .clo " in the cloner's system. The .clo is a file type, created by me. The cloner started generating new particles from the file. I cloned 2 Glocks and a dozen mags and put them into the molds of the stash after they finished. It took some time, so I invited Thea to sit in the passenger's seat to accompany me.

* * *

**Thea's Perspective**

"Wow... It feels so good to be inside a Veyron," I squeaked.

"Wait 'till you drive it first- then you now how great it feels like," He replied as he finished cloning the guns.

"Wait, are you saying what I think you're saying?" My mind was thinking that he'd give me a test drive.

"Not really, you're not ready for him yet. Before you drive him on real roads, I just want to give you a feel of driving a Veyron. We better suit up."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying even if you're driving in a Bugatti in an virtual reality simulation, you gotta be in a racing suit." We stepped out of Pierre and walked towards a door near the elevator door with me following on his six o'clock. Danny opened the door and turned on the lights, revealing a closet full of racing suits. It was at least as half as big as the armory. The walls and floors were colored silver just like the garage, the suits were all I arctic white, and helmets in different styles and sizes were put on racks above the suits.

Danny waltzed in and grabbed one of the suits by a hanger. I was still standing at the doorway until he invited me in.

"You're not going to pick one?" He asked.

I shook my head to unfreeze myself and replied: "I'm sorry... I was frozen for a second there..."

While I was still distracted by the closet's large space, Danny picked out one of the suits for me. "This should look good on you," he said.

I looked around it and found that thee wasn't a hole for my tail to stick out. "It doesn't have a hole for my tail, though. Oh well," I said.

He pointed toward the fitting rooms at the end of the closet to get changed. My suit was really itchy after a while. It made me scratch like the time when a flea got inside my fur.

We got out after, and selected helmets from the racks. His looked like BBC Top Gear's The Stig's helmet. Mine looked like my motorcycle helmet I wear back at NMC. The only difference was the color, white instead of pink.

We got back into Pierre and started simulation.

"Pierre, simulation mode," said Danny. "The windows act like a computer screen if you turn on simulation mode. Super HD by the way..." He said to me.

The windows turned black and Pierre told us to keep all the doors and windows closed so that the simulation stays realistic. An options window popped up on the windshield. On it shows the options:

Tracks: Includes Circuit de La Sarthe (Le Mans), Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Monza, Nurbürgring, Hockenheimring, Silverstone, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Brands Hatch, Bathurst, Sepang International Circuit, Zhuhai, Suzuka Circuit, Yas Marinas, Dubai Autodrome, Circuit de Catalunya, Hungaroring, and Volkswagen's Secret Test Track (in Ehra-Lessien, Germany).

Real-world locations: Specified by pin-pointing the location on a 3D globe.

Time: Dawn, morning, noon, afternoon, dusk, night.

Weather: Sunny, Rainy, Hot, Cloudy and Snowing (for real-world locations).

I requested Volkswagen's Secret Test Track, because I want to max out Pierre's top speed on its 5 mile straight. I wanted to drive in the sunny morning so I can see where I'm going (because I'm not that familiar with the track, other than the straight).

"Ehra-Lessien, eh?" He asked curiously.

"Just to find out what driving at 250 mph feels like..." I said.

With the command of his chip, he selected the options I wanted. Before I even knew it, we were at Ehra-Lessien. Pierre was standing in the middle of the narrow three-lane road, at the start of the secret test track. Everything was realistic. The road, the trees, the falling leaves, everything! When I stretched my head forward to see the hood, the screen-windshield didn't look like it was 2D at all! It felt like I was looking through it. Even the sun flare was in my eye.

"Did we just teleport to Ehra-Lessien?" I asked.

"Nope, like I said, virtual reality," he answered. "Here, by using special technology, you'll be able to feel the g-forces effecting your head, body, and vision. The mirrors will reflect whatever's behind us, and you can even feel the vibrations and sounds from the engine. But if you get out, you'll find that we're still in the garage."

"That's what I like to hear... Let's roll."

"So were all set then... But first, do you want to go over the vehicle setup?"

"Mmm... No thanks." I really regretted saying that because of what happens next.

Then Pierre instructed: "To start the engine, insert one of the two keys into one of the two keyholes. (Keyholes glow blue light in order of mentioning) The one on the right of the steering wheel for the normal for driving, the one on the left of the steering wheel for the top speed key, for top speed mode."

Danny took out the keys from the glovebox and held it to my face. I picked the top speed key and inserted it into the left keyhole and Pierre started a few system checks. After all is done, I pushed the start button. Danny and I just loved listening to the quad-turbo W16 engine roar during startup. The holographic 3D HUD projected above the dashboard. The layout was the same as the HUD on Russell's Audi. The difference is just the weapons and ammo HUD was replaced with track information that displayed the humidity level (which was currently 6%), track temperature (now at 29 degrees Celsius), air temperature (now at 20 degrees Celsius) wind speed (which was at 0 mph/kph at the moment), and damage level which was represented by the shape of a Bugatti Veyron from a top-down view.

Danny advised me to wear the seatbelt (which I totally forgot to do). We clipped on the buckle and ready to go.

"Since you are unfamiliar with this track rather than its 5 mile straight, I'll be your co-driver for this course," said Danny.

I looked at him and responded: "You just read my mind again didn't you?" He kept quiet.

"Alright, when I give the green light, just floor it. Got it?" Danny explained. I nodded.

I reached my right paw to the center console and put the gear stick into Drive. I returned my paw back to the steering wheel. Danny then started counting down.

At "three", my grip squeezed the wheel tighter than a python trying to kill its prey. During "two", my foot was revving up the W16 engine, up and down. At the count of one, I readied the four fingers of my right paw on the paddle shifter and fully revved the Pierre up to the redline. Adrenaline pumped to my whole body and my heart started to race.

Danny yelled: "GOOOO!" I pressed my fingers on the up-shift paddle and the car launched from zero to sixty in 2.2 seconds. I really felt the g-forces pushing me into the seat as we accelerated. Danny instructed me to shift up every time the rev-counter needle reached 5000 rpm, all the way to seventh gear. As I drove along, I peeked at the rear-view mirror and saw the retractable spoiler raised itself up.

Danny told me to keep driving at 125 mph until we approached a steep, banked right turn.

"Hit the turn exactly at 125 mph, at the left lane," he instructed. "When I say when to shift, do it. Alright?" I nodded.

We entered the banked turn at 125 mph. The simulated g-forces pushed me aside to the door. I tried to hold on to the steering wheel as we turned. After five seconds, Danny told me to downshift once, back into sixth gear and to maintain the speed.

After four seconds, he told me to downshift again, back into fifth gear.

After nine seconds, we exited the turn and the road was leveled again. Danny told me to downshift once more, into fourth gear and told me to step on it and try to stay at the middle lane. The mid-mounted engine screamed at 8900 rpm, outputting 1200 horsepower on the power output meter. The HUD speedo's numbers climbed quickly to 157 mph.

"Up shift," he instructed. The rev-counter climbed up to the redline faster than I could say holy melted Swiss cheese.

"Up shift," he said again. I shifted up and the speedo's numbers climbed to 201 mph faster than I could count them. At 230 mph, the car started shaking as a result of the speed.

As Pierre redlined: "Up shift," instructed Danny again. I pressed the paddle shifter for the final time, putting me into seventh gear. I looked at the speedometer again and the numbers climbed slowly, showing 257 mph. By then, Danny and I were almost at the third-quarter of the straight.

"THIS IS AWESOME!" I yelled through my helmet. I was so distracted by the adrenaline rush, I didn't noticed the damage level on the tires slowly turning from orange, to red.

From the normal shaking we felt from the speed effects, Pierre suddenly shook harder than an earthquake, hitting 5.2 on the Richter scale. The speed decreased slowly after that.

"Uh, Danny...? What's happening?!" I asked worriedly.

" I don't know," he answered. "Pierre, what's going on?!"

"The normal, road-use compound tires seemed to couldn't handle the heat created by friction, so... they've burst, sir," analyzed Pierre.

"What do you mean, burst?!"

"Take a look at the wheel-cam feed." Pierre projected a holographic screen in front of Danny, showing the footage of the left wheel-cam. I couldn't believe my eyes when I glanced at the screen. The orange painted carbon fiber wheels glowed bright orange as sparks came out from the rim.

"Man, I knew we should've changed to high compound tires in the vehicle setup!" Danny shouted.

"What now?" I asked.

"Depends... Speed?"

"242 miles an hour and decreasing."

"OK, slowly step on the brakes..." I slowly kicked my left foot onto the brake pedal until it was pushed down. I saw in the rear-view that the spoiler folded itself vertically, acting as an air-brake, gathering 0.7 Gs of braking force.

The speed gradually decreases, when the unthinkable happened. At 237 miles an hour, the brakes jammed when I looked at the wheel-cam footage.

"The brakes are jammed!" I yelled.

"I can see that," he responded.

"I don't get it, ABS was turned on!"

"At an event where a Bugatti Veyron travels at top speed, brake failure tends to happen EVEN IF ABS is turned on..."

"What are we supposed to do now? Were gonna crash!"

"Only one thing we can do, BRACE!" We held on to everything that we thought could save our lives.

Due to lack of friction, we swerved to the right and the front end nudged heavily into a barrier. Thrown back by the barrier, we spun twice, and into the grass at the left.

When I thought the worst was over, boy, I was wrong. At the left was also a banking. As I gained control over Pierre, his rear end fishtailed onto the banking when a huge, half-buried boulder came hurtling towards us at 230 miles per hour. Or maybe we went towards it.

"BRACE YOURSELVES!" I warned loudly.

The boulder cut under Pierre, acting like a ramp. It sent us airborne higher than the first two floors of The Rodent's Gazette building. The rear end took the hardest hit, making us flip forward. We hit the ground roof first, bouncing Pierre off the ground. We rolled a few times before crashing onto the asphalt again. After we took a couple of more barrel rolls (and bouncing of the road a few times as well), we finally stopped, landing on the wheels at the middle of the road. I'm no fraidy mouse, but Danny and I were trembling.

As I breathed heavily, I said: "The next time we enter simulation mode...(swallows)... make sure I go through the vehicle setup first," I said to Danny.

The windshield turned black again and a sentence appeared. It wrote: "Your Veyron is totaled...simulation over. Thank you for driving the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport".

* * *

**Geronimo's Perspective**  
**Interpol HQ**  
**8.00 a.m.**

The team and got here as early as soon as NCIS has approve my request to access the information of US Marine Malcolm Calico. Benjamin pulled up Calico's biodata to the flatscreen. He had blonde hair and light blue eyes, according to his profile picture.

"Staff Sergeant Malcolm Calico, born in 1978 in Dallas, Texas, divorced, no kids. His service began in the early 90s and ended in 2009. He was discharged unhonorably because the Marine Corps convicted Calico for breach of trust," explained Benjamin. "You see, he was keeping watch over entrusted funds for the Corps' expenses. They claimed that he broke that trust and took it all for himself. They never knew where he stashed it though, so he never went to jail due to lack of evidence. According to his financial activities, he spent $2 million building a house on his 50 acre ranch, another $1.75 mil on his custom-made Bugatti, and possibly kept the other million in his Swiss bank account."

"So if that didn't put him in jail, what did he do to get into California State Prison in LA for 3 years?" Trap asked.

"Six months later, apparently he thought that the balance in his account wasn't enough for him-so he pulled off a heist at a major bank in LA. When his wife found out, she got divorced," answered Benjamin. "I'm looking through his Swiss bank account and it says here that he's won $8 million in total after winning a few poker tournaments and roulette tournaments in Vegas and Macau. His biggest win: $5 mil in the 2013 Macau Roulette Tournament that was held in the past month-after he got out of prison in December 2012, that is."

"His activities with The Technologists started right after the poker tournament. Seems that the $8 mil wasn't quite enough for him," interrupted Pandora.

Out came three men from the elevator-the first one was tall, about my height, had grey hair, blue eyes and he was in his mid 40s. He also wore a grey suit (without a tie). The second one wore a black suit, had brown hair, blue eyes, and looked like he's in his early 30s. The third one had brownish-blonde hair, green eyes and in his mid 20s. He wore a brown suit.

We watched them as they walked towards our bullpen.

They approached our bullpen and the first man asked Trap: "Excuse me, where can I find Special Agent Geronimo Stilton?"

Without Trap's answer, I quickly interrupted: "That will be me. I'm Special Agent Geronimo Stilton."

He took out a badge and introduced himself while showing it to me: "Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, NCIS." He introduced the other two as well: "These are Special Agents Timothy McGee and Anthony DiNozzo."

"How may I help you gentlemen?"

"We understand that our director has grated you access to records of a person by the name of 'Malcolm Calico' in the US Marine's database?"

"Yes, he gave me the green light last night. What does this have to with NCIS?"

"Because we're investigating his disappearance. He's gone about 7 days ago and his ex-wife started to get worried when she didn't get any word of her ex-husband flying back."

"What was your latest lead on him?"

"We checked his traveling records and tracked him down here, in Malaysia."

* * *

**NCIS Director Leon Vance's Perspective**

**NCIS HQ, Washington DC**  
**12 hours ago**

The sun had finally shined on DC after a downpour earlier in the morning. I looked out my office window, viewing the scenery of the city. You might already know who I am, so I don't have to do an introduction.

As I was enjoying the sunlight shining in my face, my secretary said through the intercom that there was a phone call for me. She said it was from Interpol's Special Agent Geronimo Stilton. We met about three years ago when I was at that Weapons Expo in LA.

We talked for a while. Then he asked me about US Marine Malcolm Calico. He wanted to access Calico's records in the US Marines database. He said that Calico had some activities with a terrorist group called "The Technologist" according to his suspect's statement.

Then I thought: "Isn't this what Gibbs is working on?"

I followed procedure for him to access the info.

Before I hung up, I asked him where he was. Malaysia, he answered.

I stepped out of my office to see Gibbs in the squad room.

On my way downstairs, I overheard Gibbs barking orders to Agent McGee while Agent DiNozzo was talking to the phone (Agent David wasn't there, she took a vacation).

"McGee! Get me Calico's travel records," demanded Gibbs as he held his morning coffee cup.

"On it boss," McGee replied.

"Yes. Yes, I understand. Thank you for your time Mrs Nesbit," said DiNozzo on the phone. He hung up and said to Gibbs: "That was his aunt, she claimed that Calico never told anything to his family members about going overseas."

"Well, we tried talking to his ex-wife, that didn't do us any good," said Gibbs while tapping on his keyboard, standing. "McGee!"

"Trying the hardest I can, boss," said McGee, going through Calico's travel records.

"Then try harder," said Gibbs.

I called him and decided to have private talk: "Gibbs! Get over here!"

He got off of his computer and followed me to behind the stairwell. "What is it, Leon?" He asked.

"One of my contacts at Interpol called. He said he wanted to access Calico's records," I answered.

"Why?"

"He explained that he was an accomplice to a spy who works for The Technologists."

"...The English terrorist group?"

"Yup... We might have to turn this search and rescue mission into a search and arrest. That group right now, targets a 13-year-old boy whose brain contains a microchip that could threaten national security."

He covers his mouth with his hand and continued: "Where did you say he was again?"

"My Interpol contact? I didn't. He's at Malaysia, protecting the boy."

"So you're telling me, I'm gonna fly all the way across the Pacific Ocean?"

"Not just you, Gibbs. I'm sending your whole team there."

"When?"

"ASAP. Tell your team to pack their bags."

Gibbs walked away towards his team to announce where they needed to go.

"DiNozzo! McGee! Gear up!" Shouted Gibbs.

"Where to, boss?" DiNozzo asked.

"Malaysia," Gibbs answered.

* * *

**My Perspective**  
**9.30 a.m.**

Thea and I were called by Geronimo to the headquarters again as soon as he said NCIS was involved.

"So... you can control any type of electronic device with your mind?" Agent DiNozzo asked.

"Like all the people told this, yes," I answered.

"Can we see it in action?" asked Agent McGee.

"Sure... But first, Tony, can you stand right over there?" I made him stand at the window, a few feet away so he couldn't here us.

"Now what do I do?" Tony shouted across the squad room.

"Just stay there," I shouted back. McGee just stood beside me and watched. I dialed his Tony's phone number that I got from McGee using my built-in communication system.

Tony picked up and answered: "Hello?"

"You're in for a lot of trouble, Tony," I said aloud.

"Danny? What are you using to call me?"

"The chip, of course..." I said. "...and I set the timer to go off in 5 seconds."

"What for? And what do you mean by 'I'm in for a lot of trouble?'"

"That." Gibbs waltzed in just in time for the timer to go off. It made Gibbs jump. Felling ticked off, he gave Tony a slap in the back of his head.

"DINOZZO! QUIT DILLY-DALLYING AND HELP THE INTERPOL AGENTS FIND CALICO!" Gibbs scolded.

"Yes boss," Tony replied.

I laughed. The moment Tony marched towards us, I knew he was going to do something to McGee.

"Ouch! What was that for?!" McGee responded after getting slapped in the head by Tony.

"For making the kid talk me into this," said Tony.

Meanwhile, Benjamin tried to find the name of the hotel Calico was staying. "I've found the place where Calico's staying."

"Does the place have a name?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah. A Famosa Resort, in the state of Malacca. A Famosa was actually a city when the Portuguese invaded in 1511."

"A Famosa... I've been there before with my family when I was 5. It's about two hours away from here," I interrupted.

"According to the resort's records, he was supposed to check out and fly back yesterday after a 5-days-4-nights stay for a business trip," said Benjamin.

"Something must've happened to him. We've gotta check it out," said Tony.

"Good idea Agent DiNozzo... Trap! Benjamin! Gear up," called Geronimo.

"Road trip?" Benjamin asked. Geronimo nodded.

"Wait, the kid's an agent too?" Tony asked curiously.

"Have you been living under a rock, Tony?" I asked rhetorically. "Interpol has been accepting junior agents since 2010."

"Really?" Tony said.

"Yeah... How come you didn't know that? Even Gibbs knows, and you said HE was outdated," said McGee.

Both Interpol and NCIS agents strapped on their gear and headed downstairs, leaving me, Thea and Pandora at the headquarters. I looked out the window to see them take off. I watched the Stiltons climbed into their grey Dodge Charger and the NCIS agents hopped into their... white Charger?

As I watched them walked to their vehicles, I overheard Tony said... well I couldn't really make it out because his voice barely made through the glass. But a little help with my enhanced hearing, I heard he said: "OK, NCIS can afford importing a car to a foreign country but STILL couldn't afford a private jet? Oh c'mon..."

Everyone travelled to the city of A Famosa to the resort. I assisted the team from HQ. I turned on a radiation shield to my brain so the waves from our communication devices don't go through.

They arrived at the resort in an hour and a half. "Are you guys there yet?" I asked.

* * *

**Geronimo's Perspective**

"We have, and we've got the keycard to his suite from the reception," I squeaked. As I got out of the car and looked up. I continued: "The problem is, the condo's elevator is out of service, *Camera Pans out to tall building* and his suite is 20-floors up."

"I'll leave you guys to it then," he replied.

"Stilton out," I reported.

I starred at the tall, 30-story apartment. It was built on a hill. On the other side of the condo, a cliff-overlooking the horizon.

"Let's get moving," I said to everyone.

We climbed the stairwell, all the way to the 20th floor. Agents Gibbs and McGee were able to catch-up. I wish I could say the same for the other three, they were one staircase behind.

We finally reached the 20th floor, with Agent DiNozzo, Trap and Benjamin panting. We walked along the hallway to Calico's hotel suite.

"Here it is, Suite 897," said Benjamin.

As I almost swiped the keycard on the door, I saw the door knob was covered in bloodstains.

"Stilton," said Gibbs. "Blood," he continued while pointing his finger out.

All of us took out our guns and and got ready. "Ready?" I asked. They all nodded.

I swiped the keycard. I opened the door without touching the blood.

"3, 2, 1... GO!" I said before we went in.

We took aim and searched the suite. The whole place was clean. No signs of struggle, I thought to myself. Benjamin searched the kitchen, clear. I handled the balcony, clear. Gibbs and DiNozzo took care of the bathrooms, clear. Trap had the bedroom, also clear. We regrouped at the living room, next to the balcony door.

"No sign of Calico anywhere," Gibbs started.

"No signs of struggle," I continued.

"Either that or someone cleaned the mess up," said Tony.

Danny then requested for a status report: "G, did you find Calico?" he said.

"Nope. He's missing I'm afraid," I replied.

"Have you checked the closet?"

The closet! There was I closet in the bedroom I didn't check! How could I forget to do that? "Hmm... Come to think of it, I haven't. Trap, go check the closet."

"Hope we don't have a body in our hands..." I heard a thud in the bedroom after that.

Soon, Trap (and DiNozzo) discovered something. "Uh, G...? You might want to see this..."

Gibbs and I rushed to the bedroom. "Well I'll be damned..."

Calico's body was on the floor, feet inside the closet.

"Danny, I think you may have spoken too soon... Calico's dead," I reported.


	8. Chapter 8-You Have FORCE POWERS?

**A/N: Chapter rewritten.**

**Disclaimers from past chapters are applied to this chapter as well.**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**"You Have FORCE POWERS?"**

**Calico's suite**  
**A Famosa Resort, Malacca**  
**11.58 a.m.**

**Geronimo's Perspective**

We investigated the crime scene with the help of the Malaysian Police's forensic team. We photographed every piece of clue and evidence we could find.

The first piece of clue I saw was a cleaned up blood trail, leading to the closet. It was very visible since the floor was tiled with parquet.

"A bloody handprint," said Sergeant Kamal Hussein from the balcony. He photographed it right away. "Looks like somebody looked out here with bloody hands." He took out a cotton swab and swiped a sample of the blood.

"Could be the victim's," Trap said.

"...Or the killer's," Benjamin continued.

Then a shout from DiNozzo from the bathroom: "Gibbs! I found more blood."

"Where?" Gibbs asked.

"The faucet, looks like the killer washed his hands."

"He forgot to wash the blood off the faucet though..." Gibbs said. DiNozzo snapped a photo of the bloody faucet. Like the sergeant did, he swiped the blood with a cotton swab.

"Boss, I've searched everywhere, no sign of any murder weapon involved," reported McGee.

"There was a dumpster back downstairs near the lobby entrance, go check it out," Gibbs ordered.

"B-b-But... Boss... That's 20 stories down-" McGee stammered.

"Does this face make me look like I care, McGee?" Gibbs asked McGee rhetorically after cutting him off.

"No... Boss..."

"Then go!" McGee then rushed out the suite.

Appeared our medical examiner at the door, Professor Von Volt with his equipment. You don't really know this, but he has a PhD in medical science.

"Professor! That was quick, I thought you just called at the lobby," Benjamin greeted.

"Yes, I did. A man from the maintenance company just fixed the elevator the second I got there," replied the Professor.

Possibly DiNozzo overheard and the bathroom walls echoed his voice saying: "Poor lil' probie..."

"So, where is the body?" The Professor asked.

"It's in the bedroom," Benjamin replied.

He joined me with the body as I photographed it: "Ah Geronimo! Here you are!"

"Hello professor," I started. "I need you to examine the body."

Calico's face looked like it was beaten up very badly. A black eye, cuts on the left cheek and a bruised right cheek.

"Ah yes, Malcolm Calico. Have you finished photographing yet?"

"Yes, I have. I'm going to check in with the others. I'll be right back."

I met up with Benjamin back at the living room.

"Well, the place is spotless, no obvious signs of struggle," I started.

We looked around and with the aid of my nephew, he spotted something.

"Uncle G, look at the edge of that dining table," he said as he pointed towards the wooden dining table near the balcony.

We went closer to examine it.

"Blood... Good eye, Benjamin!" I said. I took out my camera and snapped a photo of it. I took out a cotton swab and swiped it.

"Make sure you get this to Pandora," I said.

By the time we were done, there was still no sign of Agent McGee.

"Me and my boys only found blood on the balcony and the door, nowhere else," said Sergeant Hussein.

"More cleaned up blood on the floor and the dining table," I said.

"And some more blood on the faucet in the bathroom," interrupted Gibbs.

"And no murder weapon," Benjamin continued.

"McGee's going dumpster diving to find it," said Gibbs again.

"If there is one," I squeaked.

"Let's go take a look at the body," Gibbs said to me.

"You guys go on ahead, I'm gonna sit this one out," Benjamin said, looking green.

We walked back into the bedroom, where the professor was taking Calico's liver temperature.

"Time of death?" Gibbs asked.

"According to his liver temperature, I'd say about 4-5 days ago," replied the Professor.

"Cause?" I asked.

"Multiple lacerations to the chest suggested that he was stabbed. He took one stab directly to the heart. Since there are no pierce wounds on the back when I flipped him over, murder weapon had to be a 3-inch knife, or a switchblade," he explained.

"Boss... Pant... I've found... Pant... Gimme a second... Pant... I've found the murder weapon... Oh God, that was tiring!" McGee said as he stormed into the suite, sweating. He held an evidence bag containing a switchblade.

"Good job McGee!" DiNozzo said teasingly.

"What does that mean?" McGee asked, panting.

"I'm just congratulating you McGee, runin' up and down just to get this..."

"Boss, what's he trying to say?" McGee asked again.

"He tryin' to tell you that the elevator was fixed as you got up here," Gibbs replied.

"What?!"

"You heard me..."

"Ugh..." McGee collapsed and leaned against a wall.

Once the investigation ended, we drove back to headquarters, except for Sergeant Hassan and his partners from the forensic team. We drove carefully to not ruin the evidence in the trunk.

* * *

**My Perspective**

**Interpol HQ**  
**5.30 p.m.**

Geronimo, and I went down to the lab to check on Pandora's progress.

"How much blood have you processed?" Geronimo asked.

"Everything's on the way. But, I think I can deduct something out of the cleaned-up blood trail," said Pandora.

"Go for it," I interrupted. FYI, I came down here with Geronimo.

"For starters, the killer got him on the floor and gave him a few left jabs to subdue Calico," she explained.

"Explains the cuts on the right cheek," squeaked Geronimo.

"Probably... If so, this suggests that the killer was left-handed. Anyway, enraged, the killer stabbed the victim a few times so calico bled out. To get rid of the body... sorta... he dragged and then stuffed Calico in the closet. He cleaned up the floor probably with a mop from the janitor's closet," Pandora explained.

Geronimo's phone rang, he picked it up.

"Stilton speaking," he started. "Professor? We'll be right down..."

We went down a floor to the morgue.

Upon arrival, we saw Gibbs by an autopsy table. The body was patched up with a y-shaped stitch.

"You wanted to see me professor?" Geronimo started.

"Yes, I've some doubts about the cause of death on this man," he replied. We came closer to the table which had the body. Geronimo leaned closer to the body's neck. "You see here, his neck has dark markings around it-"

"He was strangled," interrupted Gibbs.

"Yes, death by asphyxiation," the Professor said.

"How come you didn't notice this at the crime scene?" I asked.

"His black suit he wore went all the way up his neck. I couldn't notice it when I first examined him. Anyway, there is one more thing. Follow me," said the Professor. The three of us tailed him to the X-ray board. He took out a pointing stick. "From these, I've found cervical fractures in his C1 and C2 vertebrae," he said as he pointed out. "Supposed that the killer was extremely strong that when he tried to choke the victim to death he snapped the spinal chord in the process. Death was instantaneous."

"So, he died of a broken neck?" I asked.

"Exactly."

"So now were looking for a killer who is left-handed, extremely strong and has something to avenge?" Geronimo squeaked.

"I guess so," said the Professor.

The three of us came back up to the squad room. McGee and Benjamin were still trying to bypass the resort's firewall, in hopes of getting security footage of what happened a few days ago. I took a seat beside Thea.

"Benjamin! McGee! Are you done cracking through that firewall?" asked Gibbs.

"Not yet. For a resort, they've got military-spec cyber protection," said McGee.

"Can you do it faster?" Gibbs demanded.

"You know, this would be a lot easier if we had gotten a warrant," squeaked Benjamin in response to his uncle.

"And wait 24 hours for the General Secretariat to approve it? I don't think so..." said Geronimo.

McGee's computer (actually, he was using the one on Trap's desk) started beeping.

"Boss! I've got something," McGee shouted. He brought the footage onto the flatscreen. "Here's the footage from the night Calico was murdered."

We watched the footage of the hallway starting from 6 in the evening. Calico walked into his suite, Calico walks out of his suite, then nothing. Gibbs ordered McGee to fast forward. Then we saw at 8 pm, a very familiar face. He went in to Calico's suite.

"Agent McGee, stop it right there," Geronimo ordered. McGee paused it, and Geronimo studied the face closely. "Fernando Martinez?"

"What was HE doing there?" I said.

Then the ringtone of G's cellphone played. It was Pandora. He put his phone on speaker.

"Talk to me," started Geronimo.

"You'll never guess who's blood was it on the balcony rail, the edge of the dining table and the door handle," replied Pandora.

"I bet I can but I'll let you announce it."

"It all belonged to Fernando Martinez."

* * *

**Interrogation room**  
**6.00 p.m.**

Thea, Geronimo and I watched as Trap and Gibbs interrogated.

"FERNANDO DIDN'T KILL ANYBODY ALRIGHT!" Martinez shouted in protest.

"Then why did the cameras captured you going into his apartment during the time of the murder?" Trap questioned.

"Yeah, we found your blood too. On the balcony rail, the door handle and on the edge of the dining table," said Gibbs.

Martinez sighed. "Alright, here's the thing. I was drunk. Okay? I took a few shots at the bar at the lobby, went back to what I thought was Fernando's suite."

"Drunk? Again?" said Trap.

"How? No two keycards and it's readers are the same," said Gibbs.

"That is a question for the resort management to answer..."

"And what's the blood all about?" squeaked trap.

"When he came back, he put up a fight with me and told Fernando to get out. He got very pissed when Fernando puked on his bed."

"Explain," ordered Gibbs.

***Flashback (according to Martinez)***

Calico: (Enters suite and sees Martinez) Hey! What are you doin' here?!

Martinez: Me? (Hiccups) This is my suite! What 'chu doing here?

Calico: This is my suite! You gotta get outta here, now!

Martinez: Hold on one second... (Pukes on bed)

Calico: Oh, that's it! (Grabs Martinez by the back and throws him out of the bedroom.)

Martinez: (Off balanced, head bashes into the edge of the dining table. Checked head for blood. Tries to get up. Tumbles to the balcony due to disorientation. Props himself up grabbing the balcony rail.) Alright, alright. I'll go. (Walks out and away from the suite, leaving blood on the door handle.)

***flashback ends***

"We're done here," Gibbs said.

"YOU'RE done here. I'm stayin'," said Trap.

"Suit yourself..."

Gibbs joined us in observation to see what Trap was up to.

"Alright Martinez, word on the street is that you're world champion in arm wrestling," Trap said.

"World travels fast," he replied.

"I wanna see what you've got..." Trap sounded tough.

"What...? Against 'chu? 'Chu wouldn't stand a chance..."

"Oh, just of curiosity..."

"But before that, I prefer using my left arm."

"Huh, what a coincidence. Same here..."

Trap took off his coat and hanged it on the chair's armrest. He rolled up his left sleeve above his elbow. Martinez took off his pink Hawaiian shirt and threw it over his shoulder, revealing his blank white tank top. I don't know how to say this but, HE WAS RIPPED. Every muscle in his arm popped out of his skin. Trap's was...umm...well...it wasn't so bad actually. Thea's purple eyes popped out as well upon seeng Martinez's biceps.

"Uh... Thea...? Thee-aaa?" I called, separating the syllables in her name. "Thea! Thea, snap out of it!"

Since nothing worked to wake her up, Geronimo suggested that I slap her to get her out of her trans. Luckily, it woke her up.

"Thanks, I needed that," she said.

Anyway... It started and it ended pretty quickly. Trap lost (as expected) and Fernando flexed out his guns again as a victory celebration. That got Thea into another trans, and I had to slap her again.

Trap joined us and concluded his hunch: "Just as I thought, left-handed and extremely strong."

"He maybe our prime suspect but we need more proof if we're gonna bring him in," stated Gibbs.

"Guys, hate to interrupt but it think we need to step out because Thea can't stop staring at Martinez like that," I interrupted.

"Oh, yes. You may be excused," said Geronimo.

"So huge..." she moaned. I tried to push her out of the room but she kept resisting.

"Oh Thea," I sighed.

I brought her out and slapped her again, then went back up to the squad room...to avoid her seeing Martinez again.

* * *

**Street outside of Interpol HQ**  
**6.15 p.m.**

Thea and I took a leisurely walk outside to the shops nearby to get some bites for us and the others. The place was a block away but we took a shortcut through the park. We had our weapons but decided not to use them to not scare any civilians.

We wanted to cut through the lake by crossing the bridge but then my eye caught two tough and tall men at the other side. They wore black suits.

"Thea, let's not go there," I advised.

"Why not?"

"I saw two bogies. One bald, one flattop. Black suits. Unarmed. Possibly Technologist scum."

"Then we'll go around them..."

They were already halfway across. We were still a quarter way around the lake.

The bogies got across and closed in on us, just 50 feet of out six.

With the command of my chip, I played Styles Of Beyond's "Nine Thou" on my iPhone, the Superstars Remix of course.

***intro starts***

Then I made the call; "RUN!"

***band plays***

We started running. Sprinted past people, parkoured over obstacles...

"Can you fight?" Thea asked.

"Reflexes, mine. Moves, chip."

"Works for me..."

We stopped on the sidewalk near a zebra crossing and got into our fighting stances, just intime for the verse to start. We fought to the rhythm of the rap verse.

**(Thea's moves)**  
**Verse: Aiyyo, first things first (parry 2x, one-two punch, elbow)**  
**It's time to shake ground in the eighth round (parries 3 puches, double nose punch, kicks side)**  
**Box battle &amp; break down (helicopter kick, 2 hits in opponent's face)**  
**From the beat in the wild tone, jump in the cyclone (catches opponent's one-two, headbutt)**  
**S-T-Y-L-E-S, yes I know, (fast 7-combo punch, 7th punch a hard uppercut)**  
**Give the rap phene vaccine (dodges 4-combo punch)**  
**Pack red beam (one-two, elbow (dodged and blocked))**  
**Put 'em up (resets to stance)**  
**You plucked a bad seed (wipes sweat on forehead)**  
**Off the wall spittin' the guerrilla tag team (dodges kick, a one-two, and a spinning backhand)**  
**What's up now? Jump down, stuff that can't breath (left jab, right jab, finishes with spinning-airborne roundhouse kick, opponent knock out)**

**(My moves)**  
**Yo! You know the routine, the demon effect (dodges 2 jabs, catches fist)**  
**Please, don't step, you wanna be one of my pet peeves (facepalms hard twice, punches nose)**  
**The more beef the better, sound strange (blocks one-two, block side-kick)**  
**And you all wanna creep together, OK (4-combo to torso, one-two (blocked))**  
**In the club we gon' sneak Berettas (Thea hops in, does backwards spinning kick, sending opponent 10 feet away)**  
**Why not? We got so much street credit, (resets to stances)**  
**the rookie police let us**  
**Now that's foolish, 'cuz we would act sweet (both runs to opponent, Thea gives leg-boost and launches me to opponent)**  
**'Cuz I could run ten laps in a track meet (feet towards opponent's face, uppercut kick, backflips back onto feet, continues running)**

**(Chorus)**  
**Keep it movin' it's on now**  
**Making it punk rile**  
**Shaking the funk rile**  
**Rip it apart style**  
**Fakin' the funk pal**  
**Dunk watch it punk**  
**What now? Watch your battleship get sunk down**

**(2x)**  
**Click (click), pow (pow), nine (nine), thou (thou)**  
**What? Just what I thought, what's up now? (4 more thugs on the corner of the street)**

**Hu' (Me: We've got four more bogies!)**  
**I'm like hu'-hu' (Thea: We can't fight them. We'll just have to outrun 'em! Turn here...)**

**Thea's Perspective**

We turned and hid inside an alleyway. We saw the men run past us. I told Danny that we needed to get back to HQ somehow.

**(Third verse)**  
**Who the hell splitin' up the belly of a shellfish (gets out of alleyway and back at the corner)**  
**In any your style playing the fell blitz (stops suddenly, I saw the thugs we beat up coming at our direction)**  
**Drilling you brain like rap and video games (goes to nearby bistro, hides faces beside menus)**  
**Feel the syringe for the styles that's stickin' in your brain (two men walks around corner, walks right past and meets up with the four other men by the other shops)**  
**Yo! What kinda stuff is he on (sneaks away from The Technologists' men)**  
**Really it's Styles, really be on**  
**C'mon punk, shove off, you really gotta be gone (Technologists scum notices)**  
**Ripped out of your brain (we run, they chased after us back to the park)**  
**Tripped over your lip to diss the S.O.B. gang (gets to middle of the bridge)**  
**What's with this, chillin' eatin' kibbles'n bits, (MORE Technologist scum blocking the other side of bridge)**  
**There ain't no street talkin' the globe I can't fix (turns around, Technologists blocked exit)**  
**Get it? I'm sick with it when I spit the venom &amp; it drips up in 'em**  
**And it gets the women in a (thugs closed in on round sight-seeing area**  
**Quick dilemma; we can settle it now**  
**But I don't know who did it but they said it was Styles (surrounds us in a circle)**

**Click, pow, nine, thou**  
**What? Just what I thought, what's up now?**

**Hu'**  
**I'm like hu'**

**Click, pow, nine, thou (Danny: HUG ME!)**  
**What? Just what I thought, what's up now? (Me: What?)**  
**Click, pow, nine, thou (Danny: Just DO IT!)**  
**What? Just what I thought, what's up now? (Me: Alright!)**

**I'm like hu'! (Explosion occurs, blows enemies away)**

Okay, let me explain in detail what happened. The explosion didn't destroy the bridge, there was a blue circle of dust around us for a second, then it disappeared. If I didn't know better as a Star Wars fan, that might have been a force Repulse. His stance was like the one Darth Vader uses. Arms both extended, right foot extended forward, bent his back forward... I think I just made a discovery.

He looked weak after the Repulse and started to collapse. I caught him as he was about to fall.

"Danny, are you okay?" I said as I laid him down on the bridge.

"Not really," he said as he coughed lightly, "but I'll live."

"Danny, you've got some explaining to do."

"Maybe later..."

"Umm... Okay, we need to get you to a hospital-"

"N-no. I don't need a hospital. I just need to rest."

"Can you walk back to HQ?"

"No, I drained all my energy on that Repulse..."

"Looks like I have to carry you then..."

"Pretty much..."

"Alright, here we go..." I picked him up by his back and legs.

"Geez, how much do you weigh?"

I continued my walk towards HQ. My back got really sore after that.

Everyone at HQ asked me what happened. I explained, and told them what happened, sorta. Including the fact that Danny has Force powers but, they didn't believe me. Don't worry, they'll know the truth when he wakes up.


	9. Chapter 9-BOOM!

**A/N: Hey! It's Malaysianpro! Here we go, a new chapter! The gang and the NCIS agents are very close to finding out who the murderer...whelp, not close. they already have their...um... Anyway... Danny now reveals that he is a Jedi (sorta) which comes to the Star Wars part to the X-over. Whelp, hope you guys enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer**

**I don't own nor am affiliated to mentioned companies, copyrights and registered Trademark in this Xover. Except for Winter Tactical, a fictional winter sport's equipment manufacturer. Simply fictional, intended for entertainment purposes and not related to the living nor the dead. Any similarities between the real world and the Xover are completely coincidental. **

* * *

**Chapter 9**

** BOOM!**

**Interpol HQ**

**7.30 p.m.**

**Thea's Perspective**

"...it was eight versus two, we couldn't fight them all. Danny had an idea and ordered me to hug him. Then, BOOM. Danny Force Repulses them away," I explained what happened.

"The Force powers part I get, but why did he ask you to hug him?"

I looked at Tony straight in the eye in response to what he said that appeared to be suggestive.

"Because...the Repulse will only act on objects outside the origin of the Repulse," I replied.

"Otherwise, she'd been blown away like the rest of The Technologist," continued McGee.

"Correct," I supported while pointing my finger at him.

Then came running out the elevator was Pandora and Benjamin, looking worried. They scampered to the bullpen and headed straight towards me.

"AUNT THEA!" Benjamin shouted before arriving at my desk.

"We've heard what happened. Where is he?" asked Pandora.

"And where's your jacket?" Benjamin squeaked.

"Who? Danny? He's sleeping on the floor behind me and I lend my jacket to him so he can use it as a blanket," I answered both questions. I looked at Danny sleeping silently on the floor, using his FMG-9 as a pillow. It actually looked comfy.

"Trap explained everything to us," said Pandora.

"So is it true that Danny has Force powers?" Benjamin asked again.

"Like I told everyone, yes, he does. Don't believe me? Ask him when he wakes up," I answered confidently.

"You don't have to...*yawn*...hear it from me... Everything she said is all true," he interrupted as he tried to get up from his power nap.

"Hey champ," I called him, "how're you doing?"

"I'm feeling fine...and re-energized," he replied. "Man, how long was I out for?" He crouched, grabbed my chair's armrest and squatted up. He gave me my jacket back, I thanked him and put it on.

"Forty-five minutes," I replied.

"So, uh...about the Force powers?" Pandora squeaked.

"Oh, yeah...right," responded Danny.

* * *

**My Perspective**

They made me do a demonstration on lifting objects by using the Force. So, I've decided to use a Force Telekinesis to lift my iPhone in the air for a few seconds. (To those who aren't familiar, telekinesis is the ability to move objects without physical contact. In this case, I used the Force!)

I took a deep breath and focused the Force on my phone. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly, the phone left my hand an into the air. I held it there for a few seconds like I mentioned before and let go. It landed on my hand. As a finale, I threw my phone like a boomerang and it came back...well...like a boomerang. I did that by doing the Force Pull to make it come back. I took a bow. The bullpen was filled with applause from my friends, and from the NCIS agents of course. Even Gibbs did.

"Bravo, Danny! Bravo," Tony praised me.

"Thank you! I'll be here all week," I said while bowing.

"So tell me Obi-Wan Ke-Danny, do you carry a lightsaber?" Tony asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do, and it's actually double-bladed just like Darth Maul's. I just finished building it yesterday," I answered while taking the weapon out of my combat belt.

"Wow, this kid can control gadgets and he's a Jedi!"

"Not a Jedi Tony, a half-Jedi."

"What do you mean, Half-Jedi?" McGee interrupted while looking shocked.

"Well, my human-self controls half the powers, my cyborg-self controls the other half. It's because I'm too weak too control all them by myself. And so, the creator of the chip built an add-on device to the chip to assist me. When I grow stronger, I'll have control of all my powers on my human-self."

"Why did you faint after that Repulse?" Thea asked.

"The Repulse is a powerful Force power. I had to concentrate and gather as much Force and release it very violently. I fainted because when I released the Force, it took a lot of my energy."

I turned the lightsaber on, just the one blade. It was blue and it glowed blue. It lit the darkness of the bullpen, since it was only lit with desk lamps. It whirred, the pitch got higher as I waved it around. It was very long, the one blade itself was as tall as myself. The hilt was as long as my forearm.

I twirled the saber around. Everybody put themselves in a distance so they don't get slashed as I did it.

"Whoa! Maybe that's enough lightsabering for now..." Geronimo uttered. I turned it off and kept it in my belt. Then he got a call. We excused him and let him take it.

"Wait a minute, I just realized something. You built this when J-Son told me you were in the armory and you didn't want to be disturbed, didn't you?" Thea squeaked.

"Yup..."

"Why didn't you tell me and the others?"

"Because at that time, we were at home, and The Technologists have been targeting it and their spies could have been placing bugs around the house and secret ears that I myself couldn't track. I don't want to let this leaked for my...all our sakes. Like I said, if any more of my tech info gets to THEM...well...you get the idea. All I'm sayin' is that everyone of us could be the mole. You, Benjamin...Trap...even you Thea. Even Firas, my next door neighbor. I don't trust him. But I know I can trust you guys. Because you're my friends, and friends always have each other's backs."

"You can always count on us to protect you," said Thea.

"And as friends we will never stab each other in the back," Benjamin continued. It warmed my heart.

"Aw, you guys... C'mon, group hug," I responded. Everyone joined, except Geronimo who was still on the phone, and the NCIS agents.

"Thanks for having my back, guys. It's really great to know that there are people who care about you," I said.

Geronimo got of the phone, he announced: "That was the General Secretariat, he said one of our moles that we don't know he sent undercover inside one of The Technologists' bases has gotten some info of what they're planning to do with the chip."

"Wait, inside one of their bases? Where?" I asked.

"He refuses to let us know so that we don't risk our lives to take them down ourselves."

"Well, what're they planning with my chip exactly?"

"He hasn't extracted any of it yet, with the place running with creeps 24/7, it'll make it hard for him to download every single plan. But with him in the IT part, his job could be easier."

"So, he knows where all of The Technologists' bases are right?"

"Yes, but we have to take down their leader first. Without him his henchmen won't have a backup plan when we try to take them down."

"Alright, back to the case," interrupted DiNozzo, "like Gibbs said in interrogation, Fernando Martinez here is our prime suspect. If we're gonna convict him, we need more evidence."

"So far, we only have his blood, a murder weapon with no prints on the handle and I just found a string of fiber wedged in the blade's hinges. I'm processing it to find out we're it came from," Pandora stated.

"I can check in his credit cards to see if he recently bought any gloves here or back in the US," said Benjamin. "I'm also going to access his Swiss bank account but I can't do it without a warrant."

"I like the way you show initiative, Benjamin. I'll be on the phone with the warrant officer," said Geronimo.

"Well, it's getting pretty late for us, so we decided that were heading home," Thea announced.

"Yeah, we've got a big day ahead of us," I said.

"Alright... Take care you two," advised Geronimo while dialing numbers on the phone.

Thea checked her ammo of her MP9 and I checked how many mags I have left...wait... What am I talking about? Of course we have ammo. We haven't spent any all day.

We bid everyone goodbye, and went home...with a stop at Subway's for some dinner sandwiches.

* * *

**Geronimo's Perspective**

"Pandora, since your here, what else have you got?" I asked as I dialed the warrant officer's number.

"Well, I did found some blood on the hilt, could be used to subdue the victim. I processed it and I'm still waiting for results."

"Good... Wait, one second... Hello? Yes, this is Agent Geronimo Stilton and I'd like to request a warrant..."

* * *

**Arif Mansion**

**Tuesday, August 17, 2013**

**8.50 a.m.**

Thea and I had just finished up breakfast and I carried on with scripting some codes for the next update for my FPS game, Fields Of Battle 2. I used the chip to script and a computer to see what I scripted was correct. I sat on the couch in the living room and faced my laptop. I only thought of the characters that will be used in the script, and there it was on the screen.

After a quarter-hour later, Thea came back in after she finished exploring the property. I was about done scripting one more file when she joined me by my side.

"Enjoyed your self-tour?" I asked.

"I did and your place is amazing! Fireproof walls, bulletproof doors and windows, J-Son said that there's a secret escape tunnel in deep end the swimming pool leading to the emergency armory in the garage..."

"I know right? There's no better place than home."

"There's no better place than _your_ home..."

"Correction... Homes, Thea. I own many properties around the globe...except Israel."

"Ah, the perks of being a rich person..."

"Livin' the dream, sister..."

"So, whatcha got there?"

"Scripts for a DLC of Fields Of Battle 2."

"Cool! What did you add this time?"

"Mostly a whole new collection of weapons, maps and attachments. Plus, a new way of killing. You can now melee kill someone by hitting them with your weapon or by picking up loose objects around the map such as rocks, loose pipes and other stuff in case you run out of ammo."

"Hmm... Needs to be 10% cooler... Just saying."

I saved the text file and sent it to the developer's computer in the development room downstairs.

"10% cooler eh? Maybe I'll reduce the prices of some in-game purchases but it'll take some time. Now this is done, I'd like to test out my newly finished lightsaber."

I grabbed my saber and scampered to the backyard through the glass sliding kitchen door with Thea behind me (which brings the question why did both Martinez and Russell escape through the window? Wait, I lock the back door in the night). I hid the pool with the chip... How you ask? Simple, I installed a pool cover that has a piece of yard on top of it. In other words, it becomes a hidden pool. As I was saying, I hid the pool so I had more space to twirl the saber around without destroying anything.

"I wanna ask you something before you start, have you any experience with this sci-fi weapon?" Thea squeaked.

"Okay...first of all, this isn't a sci-fi weapon. This is real, so it becomes a sci-fact... Second, this isn't my first rodeo with a lightsaber...so...you don't have to worry," I reassured her. "But...just in case, you might want to take a step back..."

I began with a stance to calm myself down, then I turned one blade on. I then started doing some moves with the one blade. I got satisfied, and turned on the second blade followed by double-bladed moves. Thrusts, slashes, stabs... I finished with what I did last night. I did a Saber Throw as hard and angled as I can. It flew out of the property. Using Force Telekinesis, I pulled it back and caught it by the hilt. I twirled it over my head with both plasma blades on. Then, stabbed the ground with it. I forgot doing that can cause a shockwave around me. Loose objects flew away (so much for not trying to destroy anything), Thea was holding her position from where she stood so she wouldn't fly away. She covered her face because of the wind of the shockwave.

"Sorry, I forgot if I do that, this happens," I apologized as I pulled out my lightsaber.

* * *

**Pandora's Perspective**

**Interpol HQ's Forensic Lab**

**8.00 a.m.**

I just came down to the lab after Geronimo drove me and the others to HQ from our hotel. I left the computer on overnight so it can search for what the blue string of fiber was used in and who manufactured it.

As I entered the lab, I heard the computer beeping from results of the tests I've done last night. I put my backpack on the desk inside the break room of the lab and put on my lab coat.

I went to the computer to see what it found. I called Geronimo right away.

"This is Stilton," he answered

"Hey, it's Pandora. So, the blue fiber I pulled out of the hinges, it came from an XPro skiing glove manufactured by Winter Tactical in the US."

"Great. What about the blood from the hilt?"

"They haven't arrived yet. Estimated in an hour or so."

"Thank you Pandora, I'll make sure I get this to Agent Gibbs and his team."

"One more thing, I think I can help you find the owner."

"How?"

"A glove is a clothing you wear on your hands right?"

"Obviously, and your point exactly?"

"If I can find the owner's DNA on the glove, I can possibly match it to our killer!"

"Pandora, you are brilliant! But, maybe Benjamin can help as well."

"How?"

"He could tap into purchase records to find out any familiar names in their system!"

"Hold on, every purchase ever made? From 250 stores across the US? For 2 whole years?"

"It seems inefficient, isn't it?"

"Maybe you can narrow down your search starting from earlier this year."

"Because?"

"Over the years, the gloves had received a few updates. In four month from its debut, Winter Tactical added a new a few new color schemes. In 2012, the gloves had a one-size-fits-all option. This particular fiber was from a 2013 special edition. It had nano-tech to insulate body heat and I found some in the fiber."

"Thanks again, Pandora. You always come through..."

I ended the call with: "Have I ever let you down?"

* * *

**Geronimo's Perspective**

"Benjamin, search in Winter Tactical's purchase records starting from 2013 and see if any familiar names are in there," I demanded as I hung up on Pandora.

"Or... Since Fernando Martinez is the prime suspect, maybe I can search his credit card records to see if he bought anything from Winter Tactical," he suggested.

"That could work too..."

As Benjamin tapped into the records he admitted something: "Um... Uncle G, there's something I need to tell you about the crime scene..."

"What is it Benjamin?"

"When we were looking for evidence in the suite, I saw something blinking red in the clear vase on the dining table."

"Wait... Blinking red light would mean that a recording device is being turned on..."

"Are you saying that what I saw was a camera?"

"Could be a huge possibility..."

"You've gotta check it out, Uncle G! It was angled exactly where the murder took place and it may have recorded it all! This could be the biggest lead we have on the murder case yet!"

"Just what I had in mind, Benjamin. Trap! Grab your gear. You're coming with me," I said as I strapped my holster onto my belt. He got up and took his gun out of the desk drawer and followed me to the elevator. "Benjamin! Call the NCIS agents to meet us at the crime scene."

"Roger that," he replied.

A Famosa Resort-Crime Scene, Malacca

9.10 a.m.

About an hour later

"Uncle G, are you there yet?" Benjamin called.

"We're at the suite, the NCIS agents are still at the bottom of the condo. They're on their way up. Um... Where did you say the camera was exactly?"

"Try looking at the vase on the dining table near the sliding doors to the balcony."

Trap and I marched to the mentioned area. We inspected the vase closely. We saw a tiny blinking red light hidden between the stems of the roses inside. It was the camera. It was the side of my thumb.

"There it is Geronimo," said Trap.

"Good eye, Trap. Goes to you to, Benjamin. Trap, take it out," I ordered.

He put his rubber gloves on and took the roses out first and set them on the table. He positioned the vase upside-down and let gravity do the rest. He studied it and took out a small, paper evidence packet.

"This thing's wireless...and it has a Bluetooth on-off switch behind it. You have any idea what's it connected to?" he asked before dropping the tiny camera into the packet.

"That's what I was about to find out," I replied. I turned on the Bluetooth of my iPhone through Mission Control and booted up the Settings app. I continued to the Bluetooth options to see if it detected a device with its Bluetooth on.

"Did we miss anything?" Gibbs asked at the door accompanied by his two colleagues.

"Actually, you did. We've found the camera my nephew was talking about," I replied. "It was wireless and Bluetooth enabled, possibly connected to another device."

"Uncle G, I've got some news," Benjamin interrupted through my earpiece.

"Go for it..."

"So... I checked out Martinez's credit card activities and looks like he spent $40 on a special edition pair of XPros two weeks before the murder. We might be looking at our killer."

"Thank you Benjamin, I really appreciate it."

"What was that about?" asked Agent McGee.

"It was about the murder... You see, my junior forensic scientist, Pandora, she found that the fiber she pulled out of the murder weapon came from a special edition ski glove. I had my nephew do some searching in our suspect's credit card records and he found out that the suspect had bought a pair two weeks before the murder took place."

"And what are you doing now?" said DiNozzo.

"Seeing if there is another device in the area..." And then...bingo. My phone managed to detect another device, a laptop to be precise. It was under the name "Calico's laptop". There were only two of three bars of connection strength.

"Gotcha..." I whispered.

"What is it, G?" Trap squeaked while looking over my shoulder.

"I've got the other device. I just don't know where it is," I said, wondering.

"Try and play hot or cold with the connection strength," he suggested.

"Trap, I don't usually say this to you but...maybe just this once. You...are a genius."

"Thank you..."

I began my search towards the kitchen. It dropped a bar to just the little dot. Not in the kitchen, I thought. I went back into the living room, it raised a bar.

I approached the bedroom. I entered the room, and it went full bars. I was getting hot, but not yet on fire. I had everyone in the suite searched for the laptop.

We rummaged through everything. Under the bed, nothing. In the closet, nothing. Gibbs got lucky as he found it in the drawer of the bedside table.

"Found it," he alerted. He put on his gloves and grabbed it. He opened the screen but he couldn't access any information because it was locked with a password.

"McGee, can ya crack this?" Gibbs wondered.

"I can but I can't do it here because I don't have the equipment. It's encrypted with a 128-bit security code."

"Bring it back to HQ and I'll have Benjamin to assist you," I offered.

* * *

**Interpol HQ**

**11.02 a.m.**

"Hmm... Looks tough, but I'll take a crack at it," Benjamin agreed. He and McGee started doing their magic by randomly pressing the keys on the keyboard...well... They weren't random, but it did look like it. Don't judge me... I'm not a computer genius.

"You guys should take a break, this'll take few minutes," said McGee while looking focused and sharp.

Then a blonde Caucasian woman stepped out of the elevator, looking troubled and worried...maybe a little bit sad. She was roughly Danny's height, and looks like she's in her mid-30s. But she looked like she was in her 20s. What? I'm just saying... Besides I already have a crush. Anyway, she wore a snow white suit with a blue shirt under her jacket and a Gucci leather handbag was hanging on her shoulder.

She came to the bullpen and asked me for help with her small voice. "Excuse me sir, I need your help," said the woman.

"How may I help you?"

"I'm looking for my husband, Malcolm Calico."

I glanced at the NCIS agents as they looked at me. I continued; "Umm... And, you are?"

"I'm Miranda Calico, his ex-wife."

I turned into stone. I needed to stall her while trying to come up how to say that her husband was murdered.

"Excuse me for a second," I said. I got up and walked to Gibbs at my desk and faced backwards of her.

"Who is she?" he asked near my ear.

"Miranda Calico, she claims that she's Malcolm Calico's wife...or at least, ex-wife," I whispered.

"And she's looking for her husband?"

"Yes, but I don't know how to say that he's dead!"

We both looked back at Miranda and smiled.

"What do we do now?" I asked.

"Hmm... Alright, here's what were gonna do..." He whispered the plan into my ear and executed it right away. We walked back to her.

"Mrs. Calico, I'm NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs and this is Interpol Special Agent Geronimo Stilton," Gibbs introduced.

"Call me Miranda," she insisted.

"Alright Miranda, come with us," I continued. The three of us then took the staff elevator downstairs.

* * *

**The Morgue**

Miranda sobbed as Professor Von Volt opened the door of cold chamber 016, where Malcolm Calico's corpse is kept. She clutched her body tightly to insulate her body heat because of the refrigerated area. The Professor pulled out the sliding table and revealed the body by uncovering the blanket over it. Miranda walked closer to the metal slab and looked at his husband, weeping.

"Sob... Oh, honey... Sob... Who would do this to you...? D'ah-ha-ha-ha!" She covered her face, collapsed and fell into pieces. She cried as the Professor covered up the body and slid it back into the cold chamber. We turned back, Agent Gibbs threw his right arm over Miranda's neck to calm her down. I thanked the Professor for the favor and took Miranda back upstairs to the conference room.

Conference Room

Miranda finally calmed down and stopped crying. I made her hot coffee from the ingredients in the break room. I came back and put the beverage in front of her.

"Thank you," she said as I rested the coffee mug on the table.

"Your welcome," I responded.

"So Miranda, how long were you married to Malcolm?" Gibbs asked.

"About five years," she answered as she took a sip of her coffee. "We never had any kids, I knew that either one of us were sterile. We didn't check whom though. So we decided to live with ourselves. I asked for a divorce when the Marine Core informed me that he stole government funds he was supposed to look after but he refused to let me go. After he pulled that heist off in LA three years ago, we got finally divorced because I couldn't live with all the guilt. It was a sweet ride until then... Living the fast lane... I lived with my mother after that. I made enough money to buy a house in Norfolk and a car by working as a secretary to a CEO of a real estate company."

"I'm really sorry about your husband, Mrs Calico...um...Miranda. Who do you think could have done this to your ex-husband?" I asked.

Miranda sobbed. "I can't think of anyone... He was so nice to everybody. He'd walk the neighbor's dog while they were away, watered their plants... Hell, he'd even babysit while he wasn't deployed. And all the kids loved him do it. I don't understand why anybody would do this to him... Everybody loved him."

"Did he have any enemies?" Gibbs curiously asked.

She shrugged as she shook her head. "Not that I know of. Like I said everyone loved him. Including me."

The song of my ringtone played. I reached into my coat pocket and answered. Caller ID read "Benjy Stilton".

"Excuse me," I apologized before answering. "Yes, Benjamin?"

"Yeah, McGee and I finished hacking and you're not gonna believe what you're gonna see."

"I'll see you there," I said before terminating the call. "Gibbs..."

He got off his chair. "Excuse us, Miranda. Our agents just got something. We appreciate your time."

We left the room and straight to the bullpen. Everyone was staring at the flatscreen, even Pandora was called up here. Looks like the others have watched the footage and rewind it for us to watch.

Benjamin looked like he was in intense shock. "Fernando was lying to us the whole time. Check it out."

He played from the beginning. He fast-forwarded from the first day he came until the night of the murder. He played at normal speed from there.

Benjamin raised his eyebrow. "Here's Calico at the night before he was murdered. He got out of his suite, turned the lights off, and look who got in."

It was hard to believe. The silhouette of the person looked so familiar. He got in and sat on the living room chair, waiting.

"I can't see very clear. Enhance the contrast on the silhouette," I demanded.

I couldn't believe my eyes when the moonlight was separated from the anonymous intruder. It was confirmed. The puffy 80s hair, the suave mustache, that Hispanic face...

It was Martinez, holding his switchblade at his left hand, wearing a pair of special edition Winter Tactical XPros. He played with his knife by opening and closing the blade.

"Well, I'll be damned..." Gibbs exclaimed.

Benjamin played the rest of the clip. Calico comes back half an hour later. He turned on the light and saw Fernando.

"Martinez? What the hell are you doing here?" Calico responded towards the intruder.

"I came for revenge..." He said in an angry tone, standing up.

"Why? What'd I ever do to you?"

"You made Fernando lose every damn thing Fernando had during that tournament... I was supposed to win at that night!"

"Well, tough luck for you buddy, I won-"

"YOU CHEATED IN THAT GAME! YOU RIGGED THE TABLE TO MAKE THE BALL JUMP TO WHATEVER NUMBER YOU CHOSE!"

"Who told you that?!"

"THAT IS NON OF YOUR BUSINESS! And you never marked Fernando's words... Fernando said that "you better watch yourself buddy. Because for my people, we take businesses very personally"."

"So? Whatcha gonna do now?"

"Like Fernando said, MAKING BUSINESS PERSONAL!" Those are the last words before they engaged in combat.

Martinez tried stabbing Calico but countered as Calico caught Martinez's hand and resisted it. Calico threw a left jab on his opponent's right cheek, recoiled him towards the balcony. Calico tries to push him of the balcony but Martinez counters with a kick. Martinez runs toward Calico to launch another attack. Failed, he was pushed to the door as a counter attack. They wrestled and Martinez gives Calico a jab and a blow in the forehead with the blade's hilt. Disoriented, Martinez gave him another jab and got him pinned on the floor. They were out of the camera's field of vision but the audio was still heard. It sounded like Martinez jabbed Calico thrice to subdue him and got him into a chokehold and tried to strangle him to to death. We heard a snap, which we assume that it was the time he broke his neck and snapped the spinal cord along with it. No more struggling was heard. We saw Martinez's left arm raised until it was seen. He held the switchblade in his left hand. Then he extended the blade, followed by the stabbing. Over and over we saw his arm raised and lowered, with the blade getting bloodier and bloodier every time. Everyone reacted to the stabbing with a little body fidgeting.

"I can't watch this anymore," said Pandora as she turned away while making a disgusted face.

Just when we (and I meant Gibbs and I) thought it was over, another familiar person flew in through the balcony. He landed on his feet. He wore a black wingsuit, everything was covered from neck to toe.

It was Brock Russell.

"Hey Calico! You ready yet-" said Russell in the tape as he flew in. "...oh my God..." He caught Martinez in the act. Martinez looked at Russell. "What the bloody hell have you done mate?!"

"You... You're a witness..." Martinez said.

He got up and approached Russell. Looking bloodthirsty, he swung his left arm towards Russell's chest but he managed to catch it. He facepalmed Martinez's face twice and hard, breaking his nose and and another palm to the face. Feeling dizzy and disoriented, he recoiled and Russell gave him a spinning kick in the abdomen, sending him falling on the ground after his forehead slammed the edge of the dining table. Knocked out, Russell took the advantage and jumped out the balcony. Martinez got back up a while later and checked his forehead for blood then ran to the balcony to check where Russell went. He confirmed that he escaped and went to clean up his mess. He moved his body, into the closet. Got out of the suite with his bloody gloves and entered a moment later, with a mop. He mopped up the blood and went out to dispose the mop. Then he went into the bathroom, possibly to wash up his blood. He left the suite then.

"Trap, get Agent Damien to pick up Russell from the lockup," I ordered.

**Interrogation Room**

**An hour later**

Gibbs and I entered the room. It was quiet. Russell kept staring at his reflection on the one-way glass. Gibbs carried the laptop while I was empty handed. Gibbs sat down while I stood beside him, cross-armed.

"You were a witness to a murder. Tell me exactly what happened before and after it," Gibbs started.

"Murder? What murder?" Either he was playing dumb or he lost his memory when his car hit the barrier.

"He lost his memory when he hit a barrier at a highway. Try showing him the footage," I analyzed.

Gibbs unfolded the laptop, played the footage and showed Russell, from the beginning of his entrance until he jumped out.

Upon watching more and more of the footage, he looked like in some kind of trans.

"I-I-I... I remember everything! Alright... Here's what happened..."

* * *

**My Perspective**

**Kuala Lumpur**

**1.10 p.m.**

Thea and I went around sightseeing in Kuala Lumpur. Traffic wasn't heavy, the forecast for the afternoon was cloudy with a slight breeze...perfect for an afternoon drive. Even spotted a convoy of Ferraris while stopping at a red light. I forgot to mention that I picked up Firas from school before all this.

We went strolling at Bukit Bintang, a well-known street for shopping. Thea bought bags of new clothes for herself (mostly pink) and for the others as well. I got a new drop-leg holster for my USP45. (They were supposed to be novelty but it fit the gun perfectly well!)

Then we visited the Petronas Twin Towers, whose basement parking was the place of arrest of Fernando Martinez. We went up all the way to the 88th floor. I think if I were Geronimo, I wouldn't be up that high.

Finally, we had lunch at a restaurant at the top of the KL Tower. The restaurant itself spun around for us to watch the scenery of the city.

"It's awesome to eat at a place like this..." she commented.

"Not for a person with vertigo... That's for sure," I responded as the waiter took our order. "A lamb chop with extra gravy with a glass of iced tea, please."

"A plate of Mac n' Cheese with a glass of orange juice for me," she said to the waiter, smiling. She turned to me and said; "What if I were Geronimo? You'd think I'd throw up?"

"No doubt..."

Our food arrived, and ate until we couldn't take another bite. We enjoyed the view of KL for a while, then left.

We took the elevator down (took us a few minutes). As we got lower, I got more butterflies in my stomach, as if something bad was about to happen.

"Everything OK, Danny?" Thea asked, sounding concerned.

"Not really... I feel a disturbance in the Force."

"I've gotta get you outta here..."

We reached the parking lot moments later. We scampered to the car, with the disturbance getting stronger and stronger. I couldn't figure it out at first, but I my instincts warned me to stay away from the car. I trusted it, and stopped 10 feet away.

"THEA, STOP!" I alarmed, reaching out my hand.

"What?" She said, half a step in front of me.

"The disturbance...it's coming from the car. Plus...you hear that?" We stood still. Both our sensitive ears heard ticking.

"Ticking..." She responded.

My mind was crowded with thoughts... Are we talking about a time bomb? C4? RDX?

Thea ducked down to see if my hunch was correct. By the look on her face, I knew I was right. Bulged eyes, gasping...typical signs of danger. She got up and grabbed by wrist an faced the other way.

"RUN!" She yelled. But before we could even start running, it was already too late.

BOOM!

The car exploded into fiery inferno. The glass and windows shattered into small pieces, the trunk popped open and the car flipped, landing on the roof. Good thing no civilians were near.

We were caught in the blast radius and blasted away. The explosion knocked me off my feet, making me do a double-backflip while I was thrown away. I faceplanted on the tarmac, scraping my forehead on the asphalt surface upon landing. I fell unconscious for a second, when Thea came to wake me up.

She flipped my body as I opened my eyes. My ears were ringing and my vision was unfocused. She slapped me slowly on the cheek and calling my name to wake me up. Blood started flowing out of her ears, her forehead was wounded and bleeding.

"Danny! Danny! Wake up!" She called.

"Ugh! My head..." I moaned in pain.

"I gotta to get you to a hospital!" She took out her cellphone, dialed 999 (the Malaysian emergency number) and waited for someone to respond. "Holy cheese, your ears are starting to bleed!"

I checked and there was blood flowing out. "Oh my God... So are yours."

"I know," she replied. The operator picked up; "Hello? This is Interpol Special Agent Thea Stilton, a car bombing just occurred, two people injured, no deaths... I need EMS on scene at KL Tower, ASAP!"

Thea's Perspective

I knew he had butterflies in his stomach the moment I saw him staring out the horizon through the glass elevator while leaning at the handrail on his back, looking serious and worried. I finally worked up the nerve to ask him.

"Everything OK, Danny?" I asked.

"Not really... I feel a disturbance in the Force."

I knew there was something fishy about to happen every time a Jedi says that. I couldn't help thinking what would happen to him... Assassination? Kidnap attempt like yesterday? Who knew what The Technologists had in store for us.

"I gotta get you outta here," I stated.

We got down and scampered to the car. Just ten feet away, Danny stopped me.

"THEA, STOP!" He alarmed me.

"What?" We stood still.

"The disturbance...it's coming from the car. Plus...you hear that?" I did. Sounded like digital ticking.

"Ticking..." I stated. I crouched and ducked to see what I was hoping not to encounter. I gasped... A block of RDX explosive was stuck to the undercarriage. I got up and grabbed Danny's wrist and tried to run away.

"RUN!" I shouted. We tried to run... But it was too late.

I was thrown by the explosion, landing on my face. I didn't fall unconscious though. But Danny did.

My ears rang, felt the blood flowing on my forehead. I got up and gently rubbed aching my head. I looked at Danny, unconscious. I crawled to his aid by his side.

His forehead bled out as I flipped him over and started slapping his left cheek while calling out his name. Slowly, he gained consciousness.

"Danny! Danny! Wake up!" I said.

"Ugh! My head..." He moaned in pain.

"I gotta get you to a hospital..." I took out my phone and dialed triple-nine. While waiting for the operator to respond, blood came out of Danny's ears.

"Holy cheese, your ears are bleeding!" I stated.

He wiped his earlobe and checked his hand. "Oh my God... So are yours."

"I know." Finally, the operator responded. "Hello? This is Interpol Special Agent Thea Stilton, a car bombing just occurred, two people injured, no deaths... I need EMS on scene at KL Tower, ASAP!"

* * *

Chap 9 done! More action comin soon!


	10. Chapter 10-Taking Fire, Need Assistance!

**A/N: Welcome back for another chapter my bros and sisters! It's Malaysianpro, how are y'all doin'? How many weeks has it been from the last chapter? I'm not sure... Anyway, in this chapter, the NCIS Xover ends and the action has just begun! I hope you all enjoy this chapter (and this story as well)...**

**Disclaimer **

**I don't own nor am affiliated with any mentioned company, brand, registered trademark or copyright in this chapter and or fanfic. This Xover has nothing to do with the real world and any similarities between both worlds are completely coincidental. **

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**"Taking Fire, Need Assistance!"**

**Geronimo's Perspective**

**Interpol HQ  
12.30 p.m.  
About half an hour before the bombing**

It was confirmed that Martinez is the killer. We have the weapon, the footage, an eye witness... Not to mention the motive.

Having everyone shocked to what Russell told both me and Gibbs, there's still one question remaining, floating inside everyone's minds: how the cheese did Martinez got into the suite?

"It seems downright impossible. How the heck did Martinez get in through the front door?" DiNozzo questioned, marching back and forth around the bullpen.

"Yes, indeed. A Famosa's security details are quite tight. You need to swipe a keycard on the digital lock to get in," I analyzed.

"Well, it's not that complicated. It's encrypted with a very simple encryption system. Easy to hack if you have the right equipment," stated McGee.

"Or... It was human error," said Benjamin with an opposite idea.

"Human error how?" Gibbs asked.

"I was scrolling through maintenance records of the resort and here it says that the the electronic lock on the suite Martinez stayed in was broken and replaced with a new one a five days before Calico checked in." He pulled the screen image on to the large plasma.

"That makes sense how, exactly?" said Trap.

"I wasn't finished," he continued. "Both locks from Martinez's and Calico's suite have the same binary security combination. I had a suspicion, so I asked the receptionist both their keycards, and swiped it in Pandora's card reader. Turns out, both had the same combination pattern."

"How is that possible?" I asked.

"Apparently, the programmers from the company that makes these had coincidentally programed the same combinations into the keycard's magnetic strip and it's reader."  
"So if I were to go back to Malacca and swipe Calico's keycard with Martinez's card reader, the door would open?" DiNozzo asked rhetorically.

"Exactly."

"Then how does Martinez know that their cards have the same combination?" asked McGee.

"Good question," Benjamin responded. "Check this out. Here's the footage when Martinez first checked into the resort. This was one day after Calico checked in." He pulled the hallway security footage on the plasma.

Fernando was seen walking down the hallway with his card on his left hand. Checking out the door to Calico's suite closely, the reader accidentally scanned his card and unlocked the door. He opened it, looked around, and then left. Sorry I've forgotten to mention that the reader was a scanner type.

"That answers it," DiNozzo said, one eyebrow raised.

"Wait a minute," Trap interrupted. "How does he know that Calico stayed here?"

"I think I have the answer to that," said a familiar voice. We looked back to see who interrupted, it was Sergeant Kamal Hussein from the Royal Malaysian Police. He looked informal, just a black hoodie over a blank red tee with blue jeans on the bottom.

"Sergeant?" Benjamin called out loud.

"Yeah, one of my squad mates in the Wolf Pack and I decided to do a little snooping back at Martinez's suite in Malacca. We found this laptop of his on the coffee table." He came closer to Benjamin and handed him the laptop. "Put it on the screen." Benjamin connected a video output cable to the laptop, turned it on and put its image on the plasma. "I inspected his web history on the way here from Malacca. Good thing my Evo had built-in 4G Wi-Fi."

"When did you arrive there?" I asked.

"Just half an hour before you left."

"You were saying?" Gibbs interrupted.

"I found nothing suspicious at first... Just a few erotic pic websites and...uh..."

"Porn?" DiNozzo interrupted, looking exited.

"DiNozzo! There's a kid in here!" McGee reminded.

"ANYWAY," the Sergeant interrupted aloud, "as I went further back about two weeks before the murder, this is what I found." He clicked on a website on the history page. It displayed a passenger information page of an airline company. "He checked which flight he took, where he was headed, when he was flying out... And there's more." He opened a new tab and page. It was a guest info page from A Famosa's website. "He checked what hotel he stayed in, how long he was staying... He really did his homework before pulling this off."

"What about accusing Calico of cheating? How'd he know that?" Trap asked again.

"Watch this..." He minimized the browser window and opened an MP4 file labeled "Calico you sly dog". At the beginning, it was Martinez's voice in a casino, sounded cheesed off. Looked like he recorded this on his phone.

"Calico," he started, "'chu think that 'chu can hide secrets from Fernando? Well guess what? Fernando just found out that the roulette table we played on was rigged with hidden electromagnet touch switches to make the ball jump to whatever number you bet your money on. 'Chu think I did not know? Well no matter... Fernando promises that something bad will happen to you... Fernando is a man of his word... Just wait and see 'chu SLY SON OF A B****!" Martinez's last sentences before ending the video.  
"That's all I can find in the laptop. Nothing else related."  
"Let's go make him crack then," said Gibbs.

* * *

**Interrogation Room  
13 minutes before car bombing**

Gibbs entered the room and grabbed the chair while I held a flashdrive on my paw that contained every piece of footage we could find. I just leaned on a corner behind Martinez, cross-armed with my right leg on top of the other. I felt the negative aura around Fernando as I entered the room. It was silent inside, until Gibbs started interrogating.  
"You lied to us Fernando. About everything," he started.

"Starting from the murder, until you broke into the property," I continued.

"Fernando does not understand what you two are talking about," he responded.

"Stilton!" He cued me to plug in the USB device to the small plasma on the wall. I grabbed the remote that was sitting on top of the plasma and played the clip where he and the deceased engaged in combat. With the sweaty look on Martinez's face, I thought he was starting to break.

"You murdered him because he cheated in that roulette tournament in Macau," I stated, putting my left paw in my coat pocket. I skipped to the video where he recorded in Macau. "We found this in your laptop which the police found in the suite you were staying in. We checked transactions of your Swiss bank account. $5 million to Calico."

"He kept cheating as you put more and more money on the fence. Until you were sure that you would win, you bet all $5 mil. Everything in your Swiss bank account," said Gibbs, intimidating Martinez.

"All your money fell into Calico's side of the fence, and you had nothing left. Except maybe the stuff you already bought," I continued.

"You found out that the table was rigged, pissed off, and planned revenge," said Gibbs.

"What the police also found in your web browser history is that you were collecting info of Calico's activities."

"You really did your homework, Martinez. You knew where he planned to go, when he flew in here, which airline, what flight he took, which hotel he stayed in, which room he booked..."

"You tailed him. Waited for the perfect time to strike... You just checked out his suite when the card reader accidentally scanned your card as you had it in your left hand. You had an advantage. When he went out to party at the lobby, you sneaked in. Waited in the darkness for two hours, playing with your switchblade, ripping a part of your special edition skiing gloves you bought before you flew here."

"He came back, and you made your move. Got him pinned, punched him in the right cheek to subdue him."

"That's how we knew the killer, AKA you, were left handed."

"Got him in a chokehold, and snapped his spinal cord thanks to your muscular arms."

"Then you took out your knife, stabbed him multiple times in the torso enraged...until he flew in the balcony."

"He witnessed your murder. To cover your tracks, you decided to kill him too."

"He countered you. You stumbled on the edge of the dining table, leaving blood from the wound on your forehead. He flew out when you were out cold."

"You got back up on your feet, checked for blood while the gloves were still on. You rushed to the balcony, grabbed on to the rail to look for where he went. Confused and dazed, you couldn't see him. So you confirmed that he was gone."

"You went to clean up the mess and started by 'disposing' the body. You dragged his body to the closet and hid him there. Went to the bathroom to wash up the blood on you, but you forgot to wash the faucet when you touched it with your bloody gloves."

"Then you got a mop and bucket and mopped up the blood trail. But by then, some of the blood was absorbed by the parquet flooring, making it visible. After that, you dumped the murder weapon in the dumpster outside of the building."

"When you thought you were done, you stashed the mop and disposed the bloody water. But, your blood on the balcony and the dining table, that's where you missed. You checked out early and demanded a refund."

"Just when you think we're done, you'd be mesmerized of what we have from the witness's testimony."

"That's right, he's with us."

"After that day, you went out to a café to clear your mind, when a stranger next to your table started talking about your losses in the roulette tournament. That's when you found The Technologists."

"He offered you double the money you lost to work with them. $10 mil is a lot of money... So you took the job."

"The boss hooked you up with a partner and told you to meet him at the place where you and him broke into."

"He brought he equipment, EMP-ed the house and went in. Dumbfounded, the person you were working with was actually the witness to your murder. Brock Russell."

"You saw and recalled his face and he did vice versa. You took the chance to tie up loose ends, and went to the kitchen to grab a knife."

"But... He was actually stronger than you and grabbed you by the shirt, slammed you to the glass rack which knocked one down and broke it."

"Instead, he got to the knife first, slashed you in the forearm. Deeply. Finding out the back door was locked, he followed by you, escaped through the window."

"You had him in a vehicle pursuit. You failed to realized that The Technologists' cars were armed with machine guns. He shot sixteen .50 cal rounds into your car and zoomed off to who knows where."

"And he called you the next day through a secure line and told you to meet him at the Twin Towers' parking lot to settle the score...when the Interpol guys caught you."  
Our last words (starting with me): "Fernando Martinez, you're under arrest for attempting to harm a person under Interpol's protective custody, obstruction of justice..."

"...and the murder of Malcolm Calico."

"I want my lawyer..." Martinez said, trembling.

DiNozzo stepped in with a pair of cuffs. He cuffed Martinez as we walked out.

"It's been a pleasure working the case with you and your team, Agent Stilton," he thanked me as we shook hands.

"Back to you, Agent Gibbs," I replied. "So how much time is Martinez going to face?"

"We're talking about 25 to 40 years in Guatemala. He won't be around in a long time."

"Here you go boss, let's take him away- Gibbs! This is the first time I've seen you've shaken a man...mouse's hand...paw before-" said DiNozzo as he came out of the interrogation room.

"Alright, let's get out of here..." He cut off DiNozzo.

"Send my regards to the Director," I said as he walked along.

I got a call from Thea. I reached into my coat pocket and answered.

"Yes Thea?" Her news was very shocking. "What?! I'm on my way!"

I ran up the stairs to the lower ground floor and Pandora saw me sprinting out her lab. She shouted my name. So I came back to the entrance.

"Where you goin' Geronimo?"

"Thea and Danny just experienced a car bombing."

"What?!"

"C'mon! Let's go."

We got up to the squad room to get my gun and car keys.

"Uncle G, where are you headed to?" Benjamin asked.

"Out to check on Danny and Thea...their car just exploded."

"What?! Let me come with you!"

"You and Trap stay here."

"Can I come along?" Pandora begged.

"...Fine..." I permitted forcibly.

We got go the parking lot and scampered to our car. We hopped in, I started the car, and left, leaving a trail of smoke from the rear wheels. We left in such a hurry, I forgot to turn on traction control which caused the car to do a burnout and also forgot to turn on four wheel drive which caused the car to spin out when we tried to exit the parking lot. We got back on track, and sped off to KL Tower.

* * *

**KL Tower  
5 minutes after car bombing**

We got there 5 minutes after the event, with police tape surrounding the parking lot. Locals and tourists crowded the area outside the tape, with two police officers trying to calm them down. We saw Danny and Thea in the back of (what appeared to be) a British ambulance without the livery. It was just "ambulance" in the back and mirrored in the front with checkered stripes on the side. I stopped our car next to it and I alone stepped out while Pandora waited in the car.

"Thea! Danny! What happened?" I asked as I ran up to them.

"I saw a block of RDX taped under the car, but we didn't have time to run," answered Thea, checking the bandage taped to her forehead.

"Man, all the souvenirs we bought for you and the others...burnt to crisp," Danny added as he wiped his bloody nose.

"Never mind... All that matters now that you two are safe."

"What about the car? How can we transport ourselves?" questioned Thea.

"I can let you borrow one of my cars," Danny suggested.

"Aw...thanks Danny! Your so sweet!" She said as he hugged him tightly.

"C'mon, let me give you two a ride home," I offered.

"No thanks, I've alerted my smart home system to send me a car here," he rejected.

"Hmm, I never knew you had a driver."

"I don't. All of my cars are autonomous smart vehicles. They can drive themselves."

"How would they track you?"

"I'm emitting a homing signal with my chip visible only to them and other devices with my permission."

"Alright then, I'll leave Pandora with you guys to keep you company while I pickup Benjamin and Trap from HQ to investigate the scene."

* * *

**My Perspective**

We sat inside on the paramedic's seat while Thea and I checked our injuries to escape the heat from the blazing sun. The doors were still open though, to let some air in. (The bed was used by the paramedics to carry a fainted spectator, because the other ambulance that came here forgot to equip one.)

Having Pandora here was a great idea. She made a great company while Geronimo investigated the scene. We talked about the adventures they had in New Mouse City. Even the ones Benjamin hadn't told me before. Stopping Sally Rasmousen from stealing a scoop, getting in a hidden camera show where they almost died... NMC sounds like a very interesting and adventurous place.

Then a sound of a car, a supercar, echoed off the buildings from the crossroad we were facing. It's engine screamed from a distance. The closer it got, the more recognizable the sound was. The car drifted into the street we were in and stopped on the other side of the road. It revved its 5 liter V8, popping from the tailpipe was heard from backfiring. It was Phantom, my 2013 Koenigsegg Agera R from chapter 7.

"You called for me, sir?" Phantom started in a moderate pitched voice with a British accent.

"I did," I replied.

"Shall I take you and Agent Stilton home?"

"Not yet. Stick around. Oh, Phantom, this is Pandora Woz, my friend. Pandora, Phantom."

"Hello, Miss Woz. I'm Phantom."

"Hi Phantom! Cool name!" Pandora shouted.

"Thank you for that comment..."

"Wow, a ghost name. How'd you get the idea?" she asked me.

"There's a ghost logo on the back of the car to honor the Swedish Air Force's Ghost Squadron. The Koenigseggs are built on their airbase. So that's what inspired me." He turned off his engine to avoid disturbing people nearby.

Geronimo then approached us, wearing a forensic's outfit. "What did you find?" Thea asked.

"Well, we managed to find the detonator, but the type is unfamiliar," he answered as he took off his gloves, staring at Phantom. "I'll bring it to Russell to see what he knows about it. Pandora, were done here."

"Later guys!" She waved as she got off the bumper.

"See you soon!" I bid, waving back.

"So...uh...who's driving?" asked Thea eagerly.

"As always...you can take the wheel," I answered as we got off the ambulance and crossed the street.

We opened the dihedral synchro-helix actuation doors and hopped in... I know it's long, but that's the name Christian Von Koenigsegg gave. Anyway, I handed the keys to Thea from the glovebox (which was designed after the Koenigsegg logo for non auto-maniacs) and inserted it into the keyhole which is situated at the center console. (It's not weird, it's unique!) Phantom's interior wasn't really sound insulated, so we couldn't hear anything during the engine's startup. We buckled on seatbelts and were ready to roll. Thea put Phantom into drive and paddle-shifted from neutral to first gear.

"Alright, before you do anything, I just want to remind you the the accelerator is very sensitive. So press it down slowly-eee-eee-eee!" I was too late as she stepped on the accelerator halfway. It launched Phantom into a burnout, and we were pushed deep into the seats by centrifugal force. We couldn't even hear ourselves scream when Phantom redlined. That is, until she hit the brakes and shifted up.

Nothing really happened at the highways. The roads to and fro were clear. Thea drove constantly at the fourth gear, at 55 miles an hour, and below the 5000 rpm mark. We wouldn't be hearing ourselves talk if she did.

"So, tell me how detailed Phantom's defense systems and weapons," asked Thea.

"Why don't you ask him yourself," I replied.

"You have a query, Agent Stilton?" Phantom responded.

"Tell me about your defense and weapons systems as I drive us home."

"As you may already know, I have reformable bulletproof carbon fiber body panels, uncrackable glass windows, self re-inflating and self-treading tires, four hidden shortened-barreled, carbon fiber M134 Vulcans mounted inside the fenders, EMP, and an oil slick and spike strip dispenser. I also have a secret weapon. The targa top roof is also a portable fighter minijet or a roofjet if you will."

"Ooh, I'm intrigued. Please enlighten me..."

"The targa top roof is so aerodynamic, once tested in a wind tunnel, it is discovered that if you gave it wings and a jet engine, it could actually fly. The roofjet is ejected from me by an air propulsion system in the roofjet itself. Once deployed, a pair of wings extend on both sides. Also, mini jet engines on its rear allow it to move forward at supersonic speed. To reattach, it has to synchronize its movements with mine and electromagnets will attract it. Thus, reattaching it to me."

"You...my friend...are a genius and a 13 year old engineer!" She commented on me.

"Oh... you!" I blushed.

"What else have you got, Phantom?"

"Let me drive while you look around the HUD to see anything that catches your eye," suggested Phantom.

An alert that projected: "AUTOPILOT ENABLED" displayed on the HUD as Thea looked around it for something interesting to play with. Until the one I really hoped she wouldn't notice on these roads raised her curiosity. The SuperNOS meter. It was on top of the NOS meter.

"What's this meter on top of the NOS meter?"

"That's SuperNOS. Twice as powerful as regular NOS."

"How do I activate it?"

"Oh boy... It's gonna be a hell of a ride..." I exclaimed as I buckled both straps on my belt to form a harness seat belt.

"Make sure you have your harness seat belt buckled," instructed Phantom. So she did. "Now, put both paws on the steering wheel but I'll still be driving." Thea did as she was instructed. "Now raise both thumbs and press them on the wheel. Hold them." The buttons on the wheel were touch activated, FYI.

She did that...now, the fun part. An alert projected: "SUPERNOS ACTIVATED" on the HUD.  
Phantom alerted: "SuperNOS activated in 3, 2, 1..."

At the count of 1, we heard the SuperNOS being injected into the combustion chambers as a high-pitch whirring. Then, centrifugal force once again pushed us into our seats as Phantom climbed from 55 to 180 in two seconds. Our heads shook as Phantom dodged through traffic...and in didn't end until ten seconds later.

"I'VE NEVER FELT SO ALIVE!" Thea yelled out her lungs out.

* * *

**Arif Mansion  
2.20 p.m.**

We reached home about five minutes after two. We did our regular everyday activities after that while being alert and trying to stay alive.

I just finished my final scripts for my new DLC. I put all the files together and sent them to the development team in the US to get it online.

"Done!" I said out loud in the living room.

"The DLC is is out?" Thea asked over my shoulder, taking a bite out of a cheese cream donut while standing behind the couch.

"In a few hours. I've added in the loadouts in all of my Interpol friends that play my game, the Elite Weapons pack."

"ALL the Elite Weapons? *Munch munch* In every class?"

"Yup... We'll battle in a server tonight."

"Sweet! *Swallows* Can't wait to smoke you with my Elite M4 CQB!"

"And for all the other players, the weapon packs and all other IGPs are now 50 percent off."

"Limited time?"

"Nope, starting from this DLC."

"Your kidding! $99.90 to $50?"

"Uh huh... And I've introduced a renting system. All weapon packs are priced $1.99 for one month."

"With that price, I'm sure people will be storming in the in-game store."

"No doubt..."

"So, what now until the update comes out?"

"Right now... I'm just gonna relax and watch TV."

I shut down my laptop and gestured an opening fist to turn on the smart TV. Thea joined in by vaulting over the couch and sat next to me. Thea's munching made me want to munch something. So, I went to the kitchen to get a bowl of popcorn.

* * *

**Geronimo's Perspective**

**Interpol HQ  
3.50 p.m.**

Brock just arrived moments ago from the lockup to be interrogated. I walked down the empty hallway to the interrogation room while holding the detonator in a transparent evidence bag.

As I entered the room, Brock was kicking his feet up the table as he reclined on his chair.

"What? No food for me?" he asked in his British accent, shrugging, then raised his arms.

"There will, after you tell me what this is," I replied, sitting down on the chair.

"You can't do this to me, mate! I have rights! I haven't eaten anything since breakfast!" he exclaimed as he put his feet down.

"Like I said, you will, in return of telling me what this is." I slid the detonator across the table to him.

He let out a heavy sigh and studied it carefully. "Hmm... This is a motion sensor. This one detects any motion in a 10 feet radius of itself. Where did you find this?"

"Under an exploded car that was suppose to transport the protected package."

"Ooh, this was definitely a warning or assassination attempt. Motion sensors are The Technologists' signature trigger to activate the detonator on their car bombs. How much explosive did you find?"

"According to my sister, she said that she saw a block of RDX the size of a brick planted under her car."

"Then this was without a doubt an assassination attempt. They plan to blow him up so they can steal the body and extract the chip."

"Wouldn't the chip melt if he was burnt?"

"No. It's fireproof. Not even lava can melt it."

I was silent for a while. "Thanks for the info, Brock," I said as I stood up. I walked to the door. "You just earned yourself a piece of steak."

"Make it a lamb chop, with extra gravy," he demanded. I gave him a little smirk as I headed out.

**15 minutes later**

I just came back from the restaurant across the HQ and from the interrogation room for Russell's lunch. When I came back to the bullpen, Benjamin had some news for me.  
"Uncle G, remember one of our moles inside The Technologists' bases?" he started.

"The one that the Secretary General told me? Yes, why?"

"He came back with some intel about their plans." He put the feed of his computer screen to the large plasma. He opened a folder under the label "Operation Electrostorm". It had a few files, including an mp4 file named " 4". Benjamin double-clicked on the file. It was a log entry from the agent placed undercover inside on of the enemies bases. He looked tired and scared, and panting.

"Sunday, August 15, 2013. This maybe my last entry. I've been caught. They're after me, but managed to outrun them. They could find me any second. To Agent Geronimo Stilton, the plans of Operation Electrostrike are in this flashdrive. What they want the chip for is to complete a space electromagnetic pulse generator orbiting the Earth. Open the file as I explain it." Benjamin minimized the player window and double-clicked on the mentioned file. "The pulse generated from this device can be as powerful as a solar flare. It could take out communication, electricity and immobilize vehicles of a whole country. Their target, the USA. Once the device has orbited over America, well, assuming that they have the chip installed, they'll fire the pulse..." Then something that sounded like: "There he is! Get him!" The agent continued, "That's all I can say for now. Don't, I repeat, DON'T let the boy fall into their hands!" The video terminates, with the unknown fate of the agent remaining in our heads.

Trap shows up from the men's room and said; "What'd I miss?" while he refined his pants.  
"Everything," replied Benjamin.

"The Technologists are planning to blast the whole of America with an EMP the strength of a solar flare."

"If vehicles are disabled, delivery trucks can't deliver food to stores. Shortage of food brings greediness and people will start stashing food for their own to survive. It's gonna be chaotic all over America," Benjamin summed up.

"And if communications are jammed, homeland security agencies can't communicate with one another. They can't protect their own country or get help from the outside world. The whole country is completely vulnerable to attacks from terrorists."

"What about people with bionic body parts and internal organs?"

"They'd die because the EMP would cause all electronic objects to stop working..."

"So what's the chip for anyway?" Trap asked.

"According to the plans, the chip is located somewhere here," I said while pointing at the schematics.

"And it's used to control dark matter... Wait...dark matter is the scientific name for Star Wars' the Force. They're gonna shoot the Force on America?!" Benjamin exclaimed.

"There's something called a radiation collector here. It's connected to the chip. I think The Force will be fused together with radiation from space to produce a mega solar flare-like pulse!"

"And any neighboring countries will be affected due to splash damage..."

"We've gotta tighten up security at Danny's house," Trap suggested.

* * *

**My Perspective**

**Arif Mansion  
4.14 p.m.**

The guards Geronimo sent had arrived about ten minutes after he informed me. They were wearing black, from top to bottom. A helmet with a visor, Kevlar vests, joint pads, gloves, and combat boots. They were armed with FN SCAR-H battle rifles. Geronimo had them placed on every door and every entrance of the property. On the rooftop at the helipad (which I completely forgot to mention that I had one), four spotters who were also armed with SCAR-Hs and snipers at every corner of the roof, armed with Barrett M82 .50 cal anti-materiel rifles. A part of the street was closed to traffic-except for the residents who live on it. They check in for a status report every 15 minutes of an hour. Thea and I decided to prepare them meals everyday until their services are no longer required... What? They're humans too, they have rights!

**Arif Mansion  
Wednesday, August 18, 2013  
9.18 a.m.**

Thea and I just finished our breakfast outside at the garden table after walking around the property with a dining cart, serving breakfast to the guards. Even the snipers, who ate as they looked through their scopes.

I got my RC quad-copter out of my room and flew it in the gardens. It was equipped with a camera so I can see the live feed from its perspective. My phone was its remote and the screen for the live feed, so it felt like a video game.

I flew my quad-copter over the fence. From there, I zoomed in to the end of the street. Two black vans, Mercedes Sprinters. On their way here.

"Thea, are we expecting anymore backup from Interpol?" I asked while still looking into the screen.

"No, Geronimo didn't say anything about sending backup. Why?"

"Two Mercedes Sprinters are at the end of the street. Their on their way here."

"Probably another attack, I'll alert the guards."

"I'll setup the popup barricades for the guards on the street to take cover with."

Thea swiped her walkie talkie on the round garden table. "Street Brigade and snipers, be alert. Two black Mercedes Sprinters are incoming at your ten o'clock position. They are not one of Interpol's. I repeat, THOSE VANS ARE THE TECHNOLOGISTS'!" Then, she ran inside.

I ran to the courtyard and raised the barricades I planted under the street using the Force. The guards took their positions around the front gate while I ran inside for protection.

I looked out my window from my room. I saw the vans stop in front of the guards forming a human barrier at the road. The passengers in the first van just gunned them all down. They moved on. The gunmen got off the vehicle after that. Before I knew it, they opened fire, starting a standoff. Upon witnessing that, I just closed the curtains and grabbed the FMG-9 on my bedside table, put on my combat belt, and unfolded my weapon.

I ran out of my room and literally vaulted over the stair's railing. With the Force breaking my fall, I landed on my feet, crouching. Thea was seen at the living room window, locking and loading her MP9.

"J-Son! Get the place on lockdown. Nobody gets in our out without my permission," I ordered.

"It's a battlefield out there," she stated as I walked up to here.

"We've got to help them somehow," I muttered.

She looked out the window. "I just called Geronimo for backup. They'll be here with the army in a few minutes."

"What's happening out there?"

She handed me the walkie talkie. "Listen for yourself." I put the device near my ear and listened.

**Radio Chatter Log**

**Street Brigade (SB) #1: Street Brigade! TAKE YOUR POSITIONS!  
*firing from The Technologists heard*  
SB#1: OPEN FIRE! *standoff begins*  
SB#2: Taking fire, need assistance!  
Sniper#1: Roger that. *sniper shots*  
Spotter#1 and #2: Affirmative. *SCARs firing*  
SB#3: Man down! I repeat, Man down!  
SB#4: Make that two men, another one just got hit!  
SB#1: We're a little low on ammo guys, reserve as much as possible!**

"Let me take a look outside," I said as I got to her side. The Technologists have taken over the street. Projectile after projectile leaving the barrel of the SCARs, not one Technologist scumbag were hit by any of them. The guards are getting hammered out there. Two of them are shot, but they're still alive.

As black clouds appeared in the sky, it rained and turned into a lightning storm within seconds it started. In the flash of the lightning, I saw the guards dropping their primary weapons and switching to their secondaries. I knew the situation was worsening.

"Oh no... They've ran out of primary ammo..." I murmured as I watched in horror.

Thea must've overheard. "What?"

"Thea! They've ran out primary ammo! Look!" She looked out. The guards were trying to defend their positions by firing 9mms out of their Beretta M9s. "They're getting battered out there! If this keeps up, The Technologists will take over the property!"

She spoke into her walkie talkie. "Snipers! Why aren't you covering fire for the Street Brigade?" She asked furiously.

"We have! They've taken cover behind their vans. Apart from the storm, we haven't taken out a single bogie because of that! *firing sounds from spotters' weapons followed by a loud sniper shot*"

"Darn..." Thea euphimized.

"The armory..." I whispered.

"What about the armory?"

"I've 7.62 NATOs stashed in there!"

"How are you supposed to get the ammo to them exactly?"

"I've a plan, don't worry."

We went underground. We rushed to the armory and grabbed a duffle bag with us. We nabbed as many extended 40 round quad-stack mags and stuffed it into the bag.

We got back upstairs to my room and opened the window. "What's the plan?" asked Thea as lightning flashed.

"I'm gonna throw the bag out the window using the Force. The window's angled exactly at the gates. So the bag should land directly inside the 'fort'." I focused the Force on the bag and lifted it. I Force Pushed it out the window and it landed exactly where I said it should.  
"Nice work, Danny!" she commented.

We headed back downstairs back to the living room and watched live security feeds from the outside cameras while standing up. I was so nervous, I kept my gun unfolded at all times, walking back and fourth. With the extra ammo we gave the Street Brigade, The technologists started to back down. But they weren't retreating. So much for turning the tables.

Thea phoned Geronimo on speed dial. "G! Where are you?"

I overheard him talking. "Just a klick from the scene. We'll be there in one minute."

"Good to know," she said. Then she hung up.

Then, a radio transmission came in through the walkie talkie. It was from one of the snipers. "Protector to Eagle Eyes, do you read? *sniper shots and swooshing heard*"

"Loud and clear, Eagle Eyes."

"We've got a problem. The standoff is just a diversion from the real threat. *firing sounds and more swooshing*"

"What _is_ the real threat?"

"There's a chopper on top of the helipad, dropping down Technologists troops and gunning us down! They've got us pinned so we can't assist the Street Brigade! *swooshing, 'take 'em down!'*"

"Aw man, they've really got us now!" I panicked.

She grabbed me by my shoulders. "Hey! Get a hold of yourself! I know how bad the situation is but we'll make it through. Alright?" I nodded nervously. "Now breath in, breath out, and do whatever you can to calm yourself down." I breathed in, then out, then thought about my family to make me happy. "Now, let's go bring that chopper down."

"What?" I yelled. "Are you serious?"

"Look, the guys up there are pinned down and backup hasn't even arrived yet. If they die, The Technologists are gonna storm in here and take you. We don't really have a choice."  
I kept quiet to think about the option. "Okay. For the safety of others."

"That's the spirit. Now let's move!"

We ran up the stairs to the helipad after that pep talk. If all else fails, I've hidden a secret weapon up there, in case of emergencies.

* * *

**Geronimo's Perspective**

Trap, myself, and a battalion from the Malaysian Army were just a quarter klick away from the firefight. We had to drive fast before the enemy takes Danny. In the storm, it was difficult to see, but the muzzle flash from firing weapons guided us through.

We arrive at the fight. All of us stepped out of our vehicles into the cold rain without wearing any rain clothes. Just my white shirt, red tie, and a Kevlar vest. The wind blew in my snout as my paws grasped the grip and fore grip of my M4 tightly with the aid of my fingerless gloves. Without any hesitation, I ordered everyone to open fire on The Technologists.

"EVERYBODY OPEN FIRE!"

Although in the rain, my aim was very accurate with the aid of my EoTech holographic sight. On each enemy I killed, I planted three rounds into their abdomens. We managed to kill all 16 of them. The problem then was the airborne helicopter, hovering over the mansion.

* * *

**My Perspective**

We reached the door to the helipad. As we opened it, a strong wind nearly blew us in our faces, almowt pushing us away.

We fought it and entered the second battle zone. It was wet and freezing cold, and the lightning flashed followed by a raging thunder. We just stepped outside with our everyday outfits. We saw dead bodies of The Technologists troops, shot by the spotters. All of us at the roof took cover behind a wall from the raised helipad because the gunner on the chopper was shooting at us.

"Geronimo, are you there?" I contacted him through his earpiece. I had to shout because of the wind.

"Yes, I am! With the army actually," he responded as static was heard, resulting from the raindrops hitting his mic. "We've shot all the bogies on the ground."

"Great! I need your help!"

"How?!"

"I need you to tell everyone to shoot the heli! It's gunning the roof guys down, including me and Thea!"

"What!? You and Thea are up there?!"

"JUST DO IT G!" I terminated the conversation as another lightning bolt shot down from the sky.

* * *

**Geronimo's Perspective**

I followed Danny's idea and put it into action. I started by getting some attention. "ALRIGHT, EVERYONE GATHER AROUND!" I yelled out as I waved my left paw in the air. "I need all of you to take that chopper down! It's shooting the guards on top, including the boy and my sister! Now take your positions! READY, AIM, FIRE!" Everyone on the ground fired lead projectiles to the bird. Though it didn't seem very effective.

* * *

**My Perspective**

I overheard Geronimo's signal to fire. Then I asked Thea to do so. "Thea, order all the guys here to shoot the chopper down!"

She took out her waterproof walkie talkie. "Sniper Squad, I want every one of you to shoot the heli down!"

After that command, a set of four loud gunshots are heard. The snipers were opening fire. Then the spotters. Soon, even Thea and I decided to shoot at the giant metal bird.

"Let's destroy this thing!" I suggested. I inserted the magazine into the feeder of my gun and primed it. We then got out of cover and tried to shoot the damn bird down.

"KEEP FIRING!" I told everyone there who had a communication device. "Ratatatata..." Our SMGs sounded. I bared my teeth as I shoot. Anoyher strong wind current blew, messing up my aim.

After five minutes, we were starting to give up. None of the shots we fired didn't even scratch it. Every FMJ and incendiary round, Shell after shell ejected, reload after reload... Our efforts to bring it down didn't seem to work. We were still being hammered with M60 rounds from the gunner. Two men were reported shot in the leg, but they were able to fight.

"This isn't working Danny!" Thea shouted while shooting, with the recoil of her SMG shaking her voice

"Cover me while get something!" I took cover and got to the wall of the raised helipad. I banged on it and a door to my secret weapon opened.

Thea saw it as she glanced at what I was doing. "An MGL 140 grenade launcher?" She yelled as I loaded the launcher's cylinder with explosive grenades.

"It's for emergencies...and this is DEFINITELY an emergency!" I responded as I did the spin cycle.

I came out of cover and aimed the launcher upwards. The scope attached to it calculated where to aim. Wind speed was 50 kilometers per hour and it blew towards the northwest. It advised me to aim a little bit off from the chopper.

"Asta la vista, baby!" I muttered. I pulled the trigger, launching a grenade into the air. The wind blew the grenade towards the target and exploded exactly at its tail.

"You did It Danny!" Thea exclaimed.

"_We_ did it," I corrected.

The metal bird spun out of control, hurtling towards Geronimo and the soldiers.

"Oh no... Danny! WARN HIM!" Thea demanded.

"Geronimo! GET OUTTA THERE NOW!" I warned him in his earpiece.

* * *

**Geronimo's Perspective**

The soldiers, Trap, and myself kept shooting at the helicopter for five minutes. It was still hovering there. It seemed like its bodywork was bulletproof. We were almost out of ammunition, and our barrels were starting to overheat.

Then, a small object was launched from the roof. It hit the chopper's tail and exploded. The aircraft spun uncontrollably and was plummeting towards us.

"Geronimo! GET OUTTA THERE NOW!" Danny warned through my earpiece.

"Everyone! SCATTER!" I yelled. We ran away to avoid ourselves from getting killed. The helicopter crashed into the road, precisely at the place we stood. It destroyed the two vans, and debris flew everywhere. Good thing none of it hit the houses nearby. Except one house, which the stabilizer tail hit. Despite all that, it was miraculous how everyone lived. Except for the pilot and passengers of the helicopter.

I was panting on the ground, lying on my belly. The storm eased up, and everyone checked each other if they were okay. I got back up to my feet and entered Danny's yard. I saw him and Thea come out of the front door, with Danny holding a grenade launcher in his hand. It was followed by the Sniper Squad. Some were injured. I ran up to Danny and Thea to hug them.

"Oh...thank goodness you two are alright," I said as I hugged them.

"Me too," said my sister as she hugged me back.

"Danny, you better unload that launcher or at least put it away," I said. He put it away slowly on the ground. I was afraid that he would accidentally fire a grenade, because the launcher's safety was turned off.

"Man, I'm wet and I'm freezing my butt off. Let's go inside to dry ourselves off and celebrate with hot chocolate," he suggested. "Trap! Come join us!"

"Go ahead, I'll catch up," he replied from outside, trying to walk off his sprained ankle.  
I took off my vest and put it outside and went in. Danny provided us towels for us to dry off and went to the kitchen to make the hot chocolate. He told us to call in the guards and soldiers as well.

It was certainly a victory for us this morning. We have won the battle, but not the war. After what we've been through this morning, I was considering about moving him to another country as a safety measure. I'm sure that it'll be hard for him to take it, but I'm sure that he'll agree.

* * *

Whoop whoop! More coming soon!


	11. Chapter 11-Moving To the Good Ol US of A

**A/N: I'm back! how y'all doin? I'm just fine here. Yeth! Ze chapter is here! Danny will be relocated in this one. Well, I ain't stayin' here to spoil the chapter. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer (I really need to make a draft for this)**

**Blah...blah...blah... You all know the drill. The "I don't own anything" kinda stuff... Let's just get on with the chapter, shall we?**

* * *

**Chapter 11**

**Moving To the Good Ol' US of A**

**Arif Mansion**

**11.12 a.m.**

**About 1 hour after helicopter crash**

The sun was finally shining again over the neighborhood after the stormy gunfight. All of us had dried ourselves off and drank a mug of my mom's hot chocolate. Geronimo decided to take a shower, as I had provided some of my late father's clothes for him to wear. A deep black suit, a blank white shirt and a red tie. It actually fitted him very well. Sorta looked like my father too. Trap... He couldn't fit in most of my dad's clothes. So, there was only one shirt that could barely fit him. My dad's college sweater from where he was overweight. Me? Just a replacement of what I wore just now... Another black and white plaid and unbuttoned shirt over a blank red tee with deep blue jeans and red sneakers. Thea broke out here purple sweater because it was cold outside, and a pair of white trousers.

The three of us, Thea, Geronimo (while slinging his M4 on his shoulder), and I took a stroll in the front yard while viewing the aftermath of the fight in the street. Police tape wrapped around a few lamp posts closed the street to clean up the debris and to remove the bodies of the enemies on the road. The helicopter was still smoking as the paramedics pulled out the dead pilot and gunner. A local news team and their van was seen reporting the incident outside the tape. Trap walked by us, helping a cop carry a stretcher with a dead Technologist body on it down the helipad to the police truck parked out front.

"Danny, I think it's time we relocate you," started Geronimo.

"Relocate? Why?"

"It's becoming too dangerous and risky if we keep protecting you here. With the helicopter nearly crushing a house when it crashed, I think it's for the safety of the public. They know too much of you in this country. Not to mention a mole situation. Who knows how much they've known about you in Malaysia."

"I'm sorry Geronimo, I'm gonna have to say no. I-I-I love my motherland too much," I rejected, stammering in disdain.

"I thought you might say that. But ask yourself this, how long can you hold yourself here with The Technologists learning about your defenses and weaknesses with every attack their going to launch on you?" He was looking at me with seriousness, raising one eyebrow.

I was overwhelmed with thoughts. He was right, I won't last two days if I continue to stay here. I sighed. "It seems that I don't really have a choice, do I?" I asked rhetorically while looking at him with big, sad eyes. He shook his head in response.

Thea crouched down and looked up at me. "Hey... I know it's hard for you to accept this. But my brother's the wisest guy I know, next to our grandfather that is."

"Thanks, Thea," Geronimo responded to the complement.

"What I'm trying to say is that...you should trust him."

I thought about it for a while. "Where do we go?"

"The United States. I've a safe house of my own back at DC a few miles from the DC headquarters. All of us will be there to protect you. Me, Thea, Trap, Benjamin, and Pandora. We'll leave the other stuff to the other Interpol agents. Unless, you have another place in mind."

I stood there, deadpanned. "When?"

"As soon as possible. Tonight maybe."

Then a car pulled up outside the police tape at the other end of the street. It was Firas. Strange, I thought school was supposed to end at one o'clock. He got out from the rear door, wearing his white uniform with his saddle bag on his shoulder. He looked shocked.

"Oh my God! What the heck happened?" He exclaimed as he ran on the sidewalk, entering the front gates.

"'Sup bro," I started.

"Hey dude. What happened?"

"The Technologists happened. They launched full-scale assault on my house. By the way, what are you doin' here? I thought you were supposed to be in school."

"My parents called me at school. They said that the police called, telling our house is semi-destroyed by a helicopter."

"I think that was it, and I think it's partially my fault."

"How is it partially your fault?"

"I shot the bird down with an Arwen 37... Bullets didn't seem to bring it down. As a matter of fact...isn't that the stabilizer tail sticking out of one of your house windows?" They all turned to look. I narrowed my vision and focused on the 'tail'.

"I think it is...see that stabilizer rotor there?" Thea indicated while pointing out her finger.

"I think that's my window... Dude! That's my room!" yelled Firas angrily as he gave me a look full of hatred.

"Sorry man, the thing was gunning us down..."

"Sigh... Who's this dude, by the way?" he asked, referring to Geronimo.

"That's Thea's brother, Special Agent Geronimo Stilton."

"Oh. Hey. Firas Fuad," he introduced himself informally.

"Geronimo Stilton..." replied Geronimo.

"Nice M4," Firas commented.

"Thank you..."

"So...uh...are you still staying here after all this?" Firas asked me, rubbing his neck nervously.

"Nope. This event made Agent Stilton reached a decision to relocate me."

"Where?"

"Gasp..." I was about to tell him, when Geronimo nudged me in the arm. I looked at him and he shook his head, telling me not to tell him. "I'm...not supposed to say," I said, smiling.

"When are you leaving then?"

"Soon...probably some time today..." I said as I shrugged.

"Whelp," he started, patting his both hips, making a frown-y face as he said it, "I'm really gonna miss you buddy."

"Me too, bro..." We gave each other a gentle, friendly hug.

"Sob...this is so touching..." said Thea as her purple eyes started to water, wiping them away. Geronimo threw an arm over her shoulder to comfort her. This is the first time I saw her cry.

"Bye..." he whispered in my ear.

"Bye..." I whispered back.

We stopped, and gave ourselves a pat on the shoulders.

"Take care of yourself," he advised.

"I will. Don't be strangers, now! Geronimo, should we stay or HQ?"

"HQ. Pack your bags too." he answered.

"Thea? You okay?"

"I'm alright...sob...I'll go get my jacket," she answered.

Thea went back inside that leaves me and Geronimo on the front yard, starring at the sky. Firas walked around the tape and back to his house, watching the cops trying to pull the tail out of his room. They didn't manage to pull the whole tail, leaving a part of it inside. Then, to make matters worse, all the weight shifted to the rotor's end of the tail, making it fall, scraping a long, wide hole in the process.

"OH, COME ON!" Firas yelled at the cops for doing a bad job, raising his arms to emphasis his frustration.

"Geronimo, can I change the place of the relocation?" I asked him.

"Of course! Where's the place that you had in mind?"

I stood still and thought: 'it ain't safe to talk out here'. "Let's discuss this inside..."

**5 minutes later...**

Before we started packing, Thea and I restocked on ammo from the armory for our small-calibered SMGs after trying to shoot the helicopter down a few hours ago. It wasted our entire ammo stock after those rounds ricocheted off the heli to God knows where. Anyway, I was rechecking my magazine count. I confirmed that it was enough, I swiped my weapon off the living room coffee table and refolded it. I grabbed my backpack which contained both my Razor and Alienware gaming PCs from the couch.

"Thea! Are you done up there?" Geronimo called from downstairs.

"Just a second!" As if she was on cue, she came down with her luggage and backpack. She was changed into her everyday clothes. "So you and the Wolf Pack are escorting us to HQ?" Remember the Wolf Pack?

"Yup... They'd be here in a minute."

"Where's Trap?" I asked.

"In the car, waiting."

I looked out the window. I saw the Charger down the street, about a house away. And at the gate, the media was swarming to wait for any of us to come outside, to be questioned. The two Interpol agents were struggling to calm all of them down with great magnitude.

"Looks like I gotta use the backup garage exit outside the street. The media are storming the gates," I stated, looking back at the two young mouse agents.

"Sigh... When Thea and I was a part of the media, I used to question people. Now that we're part time Interpol agents, we provide the answers," responded Geronimo, readjusting the position of the M4 that slung on his shoulder.

"Talk about irony..." said Thea.

"Well, I better get out there."

"Good luck!" Thea wished his brother before he walked out of the door.

* * *

**Geronimo's Perspective**

As soon as the media saw me walking out the mansion, the reporters and journalists tried to storm in. But the agents managed to hold all of them off.

I was asked by many news-hungry reporters from many TV stations, online news, and other forms of the mass media.

One reporter from CNN, he asked me about Danny's condition. I answered: "He is alive after escaping the assault with no injuries."

Another reporter from an Australian news channel asked who launched this attack. I gave her: "As we all know, the one terrorist group that targeted him, The Technologists, did," as an answer.

A local news correspondent asked if I was to relocate Danny. "I'm afraid I cannot discuss that," I answered.

An American news journalist asked what was The Technologists plans with the chip. I answered; "We haven't acquired any info on that yet. Now if you all will excuse me, I have to get back to my duties."

More and more questions raised. But I rejected and moved through the crowd. 'So that's how annoyed people get when I interview them,' I thought.

I got to the car and put the M4 on the backseat. Then I opened the door to the driver's seat, and waited inside for Danny and Thea to appear out of the 'backup garage exit'. Then finally, the Wolf Pack came right on time.

Out of nowhere in the middle of the road, a part of it opened downwards like Danny's garage door. Inside, Trap an I heard a low-pitched but loud roar. It sounded like a car with a V10 engine. Then there it was, coming out of the 'door', a cheese-yellow SRT Viper GTS (in my opinion) with carbon-painted alloy wheels. It revved its engine, backfiring from its side-mounted tailpipe. The 'Stryker' logo on the trunk lid glowed red, acting as a brake lamp.

I got a call from my sister (who was probably in the driver's seat of the car). "Thea?" I started when I answered.

"We're in the yellow Viper. Let's rock and roll!"

"One question. How did you get out here?"

"Danny built a secret tunnel under the road, now come on!" She terminated the call as she revved the V10.

I then radioed Sergeant Hussein and partners to give instructions for the formation. "Alright, I'll be in front of the yellow car while five of you are in front of me, and the other five behind the yellow car."

"Ten-four," the young Sergeant replied.

* * *

**My Perspective**

All twelve of us got the show on the road. Thea revved Python (the name I gave the car) once more on neutral before shifting into first. The reporters from the gate noticed that we were leaving from the noise of the engine, so they went after us.

"Look, the reporters are chasing after us!" I said to Thea, looking in the side mirror, smiling.

"Too late for them now," she replied, looking into the rear-view.

They disappeared in the mirrors as we turned left to exit the residential area.

**After 10 minutes of driving**

It started to get hot in the highways, so I cranked the temperature knob on the controls to 'low'. Our twelve cars and drivers stayed in formation inside the middle lane just above the speed limit. Thea drove in fourth gear, making Python rev up his supercharged V10 up to 3500 rpm. Noisy because the supercharger was whirring in high-pitch, but our voices were still audible.

I was busy watching 'Let's Play' videos in YouTube with Python's holographic display hovering above the dashboard. Soon, Thea joined in when I played videos of PewDiePie playing the extreme sports game full of glitches, known to many Bros as Skate 3. She turned on autopilot and shared the screen with me.

As we laughed out heart out, I saw a couple of news vans in the mirrors tailing us from behind, with a cameraman in the front, pointing the lens at us. That's not all, we heard swooshing from the sky. It sounded very close to the ground. We looked out the windows trying to find the source. Two local news helicopters, souring in the sky, recording us from above.

I paused the video. "I can't believe it! They're still after us!"

"Well, there's one thing that we media people and or mice say, when it comes to getting a scoop, you gotta do anything to get it," Thea replied, returning her paws on the wheel, and turned autopilot off. I simply shrugged to that comment.

* * *

**Interpol HQ**

**12.20 p.m.**

Geronimo was on the phone with the General Secretariat again, requesting an aircraft to pick me and the others up at the RMAF's (Royal Malaysian Air Force) airbase in Kuala Lumpur. "Yes, sir. Thank you sir. The favor is very much appreciated." He hung up and brought the great news. "Great news, the Secretary General just sent us a military aircraft, courtesy of the French 'Armée De L'air'." He said the words in French.

"The French Air Force?" I 'asked'.

"Cool! What'd they sent us?" Thea asked, taking out and turning on her gaming-spec upgraded laptop.

"I hope this surprises you, because the aircraft on its way here right now is a Lockheed C-130-J Super Hercules."

"Dayum!" I said in slang as I setup my Razor gaming laptop on Thea's desk.

"When will it arrive?" Pandora asked.

"Unfortunately...in about 10-12 hours," answered the young mouse, who frowned suddenly.

"What?!" I said in disdain, recoiling in my chair at Thea's desk as I looked at him.

"Hey, France is a few thousand miles away... Plus, this specific aircraft's fuel tank is modified it reach ranges up to 16,000 kilometers, and the turboprops are replaced with more powerful ones that could reach Mach 0.82," he said, shrugging and tilting his head. (FYI, Mach is the ratio of the speed of a body to the speed of sound.)

"Whoa, that's fast," Benjamin emphasized.

"At least we've got plenty of time to kill. Who's up for a Bluetooth match with bots?" I said, turning my frown upside down. Seems like my suggestion has infected the entire bullpen with a smile. Even Geronimo, because whenever anyone else is happy, he's happy.

"I do!" Pandora responded as she quickly reached for the laptop in her backpack.

"Me too!" Benjamin said while doing the same.

Thea and I had already connected our laptops together. Soon, we started a no kill limit deathmatch. Human and mice versus bots. Bot difficulty: human-like. The map was a different rendition of the Counter-Strike's 'Assault' map.

**5 minutes and 42 seconds later...**

At a point when the entire team of bots took hold of the train station (which is supposed to be a ramp leading to an empty road), we were getting powned. It was actually a very practical sniping spot for both teams as it stretches along the map.

"Dammit! Why'd I have to set it at human-like?!" I shouted into my computer, making my avatar take cover at an alley near our spawning places.

"Good thing you added spawn protection a few updates ago," Benjamin recalled, trying to counter-snipe the bots.

"It's really hard to aim at their heads because their lying down," Pandora analyzed, taking cover behind a prop car, struggling to stay alive.

A light bulb of idea just suddenly popped up in my head. "I've an idea... Thea cover me!"

"Got it!" She responded as we came out of cover.

We just came sprinting out of the alley and down the road Thea fired a spray of rounds for cover fire until we reached the stairs to the station.

"Alright, let's go pop some heads!" I announced, switching to my secondary weapon.

We climbed the stairs and just stormed the place. The bots were perfectly aligned, side by side. I shot two melons (heads, not...*clears throat*), Thea popped the other two.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" I shouted slowly, celebrating by making my avatar crouching up and down the dead bot's head. AKA, the T-bag. "How you like 'dis ya friggin' moron?!" I yelled, switching to my Italian accent.

"Danny, what are you doing?" Thea asked, looking at my avatar.

"It's called T-bagging."

"You're so disgusting Danny..." Looked like she understand what I meant.

"Ah man, it disappeared," I said as the lifeless 'body' de-spawned.

"You guys better watch out, Danny's turned on his Italian accent," Benjamin gave the others a heads up.

"I never knew he could speak in accents," Pandora wondered as her avatar stormed into the warehouse.

"Yeah, I use 'dis accent when people tryna cheese me off," I replied as Thea and I sniped some enemies.

"Who's cheesin' you now?" Thea asked, rolling her eyes towards me.

"At 'dis moment, these damn bots. They're drivin' me...freakin' nuts!" I shouted, trying very hard not to swear.

"What other accents can you do?" Pandora asked, shifting her focus to me.

"Lemme try Afro-American. *clears throat* 'Sup homies! Name's Danny!" She got me off my guard, letting a bot blow my brains up. "Man, 'chu gotta be effin' kiddin' me, nigga!" I shouted again into my computer screen, trying to ease the usage of the f-word and the n-word.

"Whoa! Easy there tiger... Don't lose your cool," Thea advised, patting me on the back.

"Jeah, my bad. Lemme just switch to Hispanic. *clears throat* Alright, 'chu better watch yourself mister! Because for my people, we take businesses very personally. And then, 'chu no longer Mr Overkill, 'chu Mr Who-cut-of-my-tongue!"

"How about Russian?" Thea requested.

"Da, I can do that to, my tovarisch," I said in my Russian accent and spoke a little Russian too. "I wish I was paid to do this, but I'm already a multi-billionaire. So, I don't have to sell my talent."

"Danny, sniper!" alerted Pandora.

"Oh shoot!" Luckily, I moved my avatar out go the way. "Spasibo, tovarisch," I said, looking at Pandora.

"You're welcome," she replied.

* * *

**Geronimo's perspective**

**10 hours later...**

**10.01 p.m.**

Danny (in his British accent): "*Snore* Ah no! Not again! *snore* That's it! *snore* I will freakin' break you, mate! *snore* I swear on me mum! *snore* Come on, one versus one me mate!"

Benjamin: "No, no, don't storm in just yet... *snore* backup will be here... *snore* ...any minute..."

Trap: "*Snore* Officer, someone stole my favorite cheese... *snore* and I need you... *snore* to find it..."

Pandora: "..."

Thea: "Can I drive her next? ... Yes? It's a dream come true!..."

Me? I was just coming out of the bathroom, after waking up from my power nap ten minutes before. I came back to the bullpen just to see everyone was still catching some Zs.

Yes reader, they were sleeping. Having dreams and nightmares. Thea put her head on her desk, Danny slept in chair next to her, reclining while his head tilted, Trap's mouth watered as he dreamt about cheese, Pandora... She didn't show signs of any dreaming, but she was just sleeping quietly at the side of Benjamin's desk. Benjamin was on his chair holding an imaginary rifle, recoiling his arms and shoulder as if he was shooting.

"Tisk tisk tisk..." I said while shaking my head, with my arms akimbo. I looked around the squad room to see if there's still anyone around. The other bullpens were dark and empty, leaving us and the Wolf Pack in the next bullpen, the only bullpens that were lit with desk lamps. Once I've confirmed that no other staff was present, it was time to break out my newly bought airhorn as a souvenir. "I knew this would come in handy," I muttered to myself as I took it out of my backpack. I assembled the horn to the nozzle of the can and aimed it in the air. Then; "HOOOOOOOOONK!" I pressed it for literally three seconds. Everyone jumped off of their chairs, literally everyone.

"Alright everyone! Nap time's over!" I shouted over the two bullpens.

"Ugh..." My little sister moaned as she wipes her eyes, "Geronimo, did you really have to do that?"

"Pretty much," I answered. "Come on! We need to be at the airbase by 10.45."

"Hang on, need to stretch out..." said Sergeant Hussein.

"Danny, is the diversion here?" I asked him, who was still yawning.

"Yeah, they're out back chillin' in the impound lot," he answered, still stuck in his British accent.

"Good. You'll signal their role when we move to the underground parking garage.

* * *

**My Perspective**

The plan of diversion was to distract the press. I've summoned from my garage a squad of 12 Koenigseggs I call the Ghosts. As the name implies, all of them are named after ghosts.

**The Ghosts**

**Haunter, the CC8S**

**Spook, the CCGT**

**Spirit, the CCR**

**Ghost, the CCX**

**Vision, the CCX Edition**

**Specter, the CCXR**

**Shade, the CCXR Edition**

**Shadow, the CCXR Special Edition**

**Ghoul, the Trevita**

**Wraith, the Agera**

**Banshee, the Agera S (also the only female in the squad)**

**And Phantom, the Agera R, the leader of the Ghosts (as you knew in the last chapter.)**

The Wolf Pack and us went down to underground staff (and VIP) parking where the press wasn't allowed to access. (We didn't fit the entire elevator, so we had to make two trips.) It was totally empty but our cars, the Wolf Packs cars, and other staff's cars who was working overtime. We all hopped into our four-wheeled vehicles and started our engines. Python's engine was the loudest during startup, echoing against the solid walls.

"Alright Ghosts! Do yo thang," I communicated them with my chip.

"Ten-four, sir," Phantom replied in the impound lot. I listened to their progress. "Ghosts! Apply disguises!" It works by projecting a holographic image of the disguises over themselves, appearing genuine. Anyway, whirring was heard from their projectors, indicating their disguises are on. Banshee became Geronimo's Charger, Phantom disguised as Python, while the others turned into the Wolf Pack's cars, the Evos. "Let's move out..." They exited the impound lot (which was next door to the HQ) and drove past HQ. I watched the news from Python's holo-screen.

Every news network and channel. Dying to get this hot scoop. Every cameraman, reporter, even the news choppers from just now. All of them left the front entrance in their news vans and followed the Ghosts to the twin towers. Once they were out of the way, it was time to make our move.

I tuned my voice to speak in redneck accent. "Alright, they left. Let's move out."

We drove out the parking garage slowly and stealthily to avoid anymore media people that possibly stayed behind from noticing. As we turned on our vehicle's lights, Thea shifted up early into fourth gear for minimal engine noise. As the Ghosts diverted the press, we drove in the opposite direction, went passed the impound lot and headed towards the airbase.

* * *

**RMAF Airbase**

**Somewhere in KL**

**10.46 p.m.**

We had arrived after roughly 35 minutes of driving. As we drove up to the gates, our eyesight was focused on the C-130 at the other side of the fence. Upon entering the gates, we got to see the full view of the tactical transportation aircraft. I just gaped. _'Maybe we've gone a little bit overboard with this,'_ I thought while making a raised eyebrow face expression that says: **'are you kiddin' me, mate?'**

Upon entrance, the place was dark. The area was only lit by lamp posts between hangars and by small lights at the runway. The aircraft was parked in front of a hangar next to a small tanker truck, containing kerosene. AKA, jet fuel.

Geronimo just spoke to the aircraft's pilot while we were still sitting inside Python. He came to Thea's side and told us (after she rolled down the window): "I just spoke to the pilot. He said we're clear to takeoff for D.C. in 15 minutes. In the meantime, you can 'chill' in here as the aircraft refuels." He paused at the word 'chill' because he felt awkward for using informal language.

Thea rolled the window back up. "You nervous, champ?"

I was deadpanned for a while. "Yeah. It's been my first time in three years since I've been in The States," I said, turning my attention to her. "Well, not actually three years. A part from all the video game conferences I've been to, I'm tryna say that I haven't been staying in the US since my family passed away."

"Those memories of what happened there seem haunt you, huh?" I nodded, frowning.

"Whelp, you gotta push yourself hard to move on, especially when you lose your entire family. Besides, I'm not gonna just abandon it for all my life... It's a beautiful estate."

**15 minutes later...**

Geronimo came back to Thea's window. She rolled it down. "Shes fueled up. Let's go!"

"Ready?" Thea asked.

"Yup, let's go," I replied.

We stepped out of Python. I carried my backpack while Thea went to the trunk to get her luggage.

"Hey, I just thought of something. Why didn't you pack?" said Thea, who lifted her bag out of the trunk and closed the lid.

"Don't you remember? We're taking refuge in one of my retreats outside of DC, remember?" I stated, extending my arms in front to emphasis my point.

"Oh, right..."

I came to Python, who's bi-xenon headlights were still turned on, accompanied by his daytime-running lights. "Python," I called.

"Sir?" He responded in a mild-deep voice, somewhat British-American accent.

"Don't forget to switch profiles."

"My DC retreat profile, sir?"

"Yup."

"I will not forget."

We shook 'hands' goodbye with the Sergeant and the rest of the Wolf Pack, thanking them for their service. They stayed to see us take off. Then, the cargo door opened, revealing bright white light from inside the cargo hold. The pilots turned on the turboprop engines, spinning the four propellers. The loadmaster came out of the cargo hold, ran to us and called us to aboard the C-130.

"Are you sure that you're not going to bring your car aboard?" the French loadmaster asked me, shouting because of the noise. "We still have 20000 kilos of free payload space."

"That won't be necessary, sir," I replied loudly with a nervous smile and laugh.

"Alright... Suite yourself kid..."

"Okay! Has everyone gotten their passports?" Geronimo asked aloud as the propellers spun.

"Yes!" All of us replied.

"Alright! Let's get on board."

Before we left, the Wolf Pack left us one last surprise as we marched to the cargo door, pulling our luggage. "WOLF PACK, SALUTE!" Sergeant Hussein yelled. The team of elite drivers gave us a military-styled salute. We all saluted back, smiling and boarded the aircraft.

We took our seats (settled our luggage first), and strapped in the harness seat belt. The bird moved to the runway, readying itself for takeoff. The propellers spun at full speed, and the noise level cranked up to 11. At takeoff, the aircraft shook and we were pulled to the back (good thing the seat belts hugged us tight to our seats) as the Lockheed-manufactured C-130 accelerated faster than Dubai's Devel Sixteen which (supposedly) accelerates in 1.8 seconds. We began our ascent and soon, we were airborne.

"Goodbye Malaysia," I bid for the final time.

Meanwhile, the diversion was going according to plan. The Ghosts have reached the Twin Towers' entrance, aligned side by side along the road. They turned off their disguises, revealing theirselves as Koenigseggs. The media surrounded them, according to the news I was watching on my phone. For the grand finale, they projected a holographic message, teasing them. It said: "Sorry guys. He already left." An arrow pointed in the message towards the sky as our C-130 flew above and past the towers. The camera panned in and focused on our plane.

"Your diversion ops went to plan?" Thea asked, leaning at my side.

I smiled. "Yeah, they totally fell for it."

As the night was passing through, we were quarter-way across the Pacific Ocean. We got bored so we played some games, sang songs and talked. The Stiltons and one Woz made me talk in accents again, until I was locked in me thick British accent again. Oh no! I'm stuck in it again! Why am I sayin' 'again' so many times? Why am I asking _YOU_ all these questions?

* * *

**Andrews Field, Joint Base Andrews**

**Southeast of Washington DC**

**2.40 p.m., 16 hours later**

We finally landed in America after 16 hours of being strapped and doing nothing in the cargo hold of that Lockheed. It really make my back ache! Whoo! Anyway, upon stepping out of the aircraft, a heat wave struck us because duh, it was in the middle of summer...and a few soldiers from the US Army armed with AR15s and some Interpol agents armed with UMP45s guarded us as we approached our vehicles. The one Thea and I rode in was one of mine, as you may recall, she was Colette, my Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse. She got confirmation from me to get Interpol to authorize her into the airbase. The same happened to my facelifted 2013 Porsche Panamera Turbo S named Ameera, also a female. I lend her to Geronimo and the others. They took position, angled side by side, with their front wheels steered. How did they get here? They're cloned and placed at the retreat I was talking about, switching to their profiles in this countries. Anyway, five black Dodge Chargers as escort vehicles and their drivers waited for us as their hidden red and blue strobe lights blinked repeatedly.

"Great Gouda! Danny, seriously? I'm driving Colette today?" Thea exclaimed upon exiting the cargo hold as she looked at me with a face expression that says: 'aw, hell yeah!'

"Yes indeed," I responded. "Geronimo, Benjamin, Pandora, and Trap, enjoy Ameera."

"Your Porsche, I assume?" he asked to confirm.

"Eeyup," I nodded. "If you have any trouble, don't be afraid to patch in your radio communication signal to Colette's. I'll be there to help. Also, Ameera herself will help you if you have any problems."

"Copy that..."

As for Pandora, Benjamin and Trap, they just walked, deadpanned, gaping at Colette.

Thea and I jumped into the 16 cylinder supercar. I handed, or rather, pawed her the the keys which I always keep in the glovebox. As she started the engine, the roar went through the glass targa top. As the hot, blazing sun burns us, I ordered Colette to turn on the semi-solid tints on her targa top.

"I'm sure Geronimo's having trouble with Ameera," Thea stated, smiling at the white car next to us.

"What makes you say that?" I asked, looking at her.

"He hasn't started the engine yet." She was right. He was still finding the keys. He gave up and requested something from Ameera. I read his lips and he requested: "Ameera, patch your communication with Colette's."

"Sir, incoming transmission from Ameera," Colette notified.

"Need help, big bro?" Thea started, trying to hold back her laugh.

"Yes, we can't seem to find the keys," he said, looking at us through the window.

"Have you tried asking Ameera herself?" I suggested.

"Huh, I haven't thought of that. Ameera, where do you keep your keys?"

I heard her answer. "Why didn't you ask? They are in the glovebox, Agent Stilton."

I giggled. "Alright, keep yourselves patched in. I'll tell you the directions."

Geronimo got Ameera started and put her gear lever into drive. She gave a little advice on how to drive her, like did with Thea. "I must advise you that my accelerator pedal is very sensitive due to my master tuning up my engine to output 780 horses of power. So you might want to step on it slowly." The wheel was still steering to the right, so Geronimo just stepped on it, maybe just about half judging by the sound of the revving. He forgot that he was on neutral, so he shifted up into first...

While his paw was still pushing down the accelerator.

"Whoa!" Geronimo and the others shouted as Ameera launched into a burnout. As the result of the front wheels being steered to the right and the state that Ameera was in rear-wheel drive mode, she did a fishtailed u-turn in the process. Luckily, Geronimo's reflexes was fast enough to counter-steer and brake when they exited the u-turn.

"That...was...awesome! Let's do it again," shouted Benjamin.

We drove out of the airfield, with the sirens of the escorts turned on and in a different formation, Geronimo and the rest of the gang in the front, Thea and I behind them, and the escorts behind us.

Twenty minutes of driving and being escorted later, we reached the rural areas outside of DC, halting at a stoplight by a t-junction. A head of the junction was a dirt road, leading into a forest.

"Just go straight ahead after the stoplight," I instructed Geronimo.

"Into the forest?" asked Geronimo, sounding unsure.

"Yeah. Why? You scared, big bro?" Thea teased.

"What? No, I was just...unsure," he responded, trying to sound brave. _Smooth, _G. _Real smooth._

The light turned green, and we continued on our journey to my isolated retreat. We drove down on the dirt road, surrounded by tall trees along the way. Colette got a large advantage as she was permanently four-wheel drive, which assists in high speed off-road driving.

* * *

**Arif Retreat Estate**

**In the middle of a forest, somewhere outside of DC**

**3.10 p.m.**

Ten minutes went by and already I saw my place sitting on top of a hill. There it was. My isolated retreat estate. About nine acres big, the whole property was surrounded by a thick brick fence. It has an outdoor shooting range, a 30mx30m pool, separated indoor gym, and a large courtyard with a fountain in the middle just in front of the mansion. The other spaces were free for anyone to do whatever they like.

"Is that the place Danny? The one you talked about?" Geronimo asked again.

"It is," I answered confidently. "Whadya think guys?"

Pandora started: "Oh..."

Benjamin continued: "My..."

Followed by Trap: "Gosh..."

"I thought you guys would say that," I responded, filling myself with ego while I held a face expression that said: 'like a boss'. "Is there anything you'd like to add, Thea?" She was just gaping, deadpanned. She finally responded with; "Holy mother of cheese..."

We drove in after the gates opened. Tall hedge trees were planted on both sides of the dirt path. Both our cars entered the courtyard (the escorts left when we entered the gates) then all of us got out after we stopped. We grabbed our luggage, and the two supercars drove away slowly.

"Thanks Colette, Ameera," I thanked, looking back at them as they drove away to the underground garage. I walked up a few steps up the stairs to the porch. "Alright guys, welcome to my Retreat! We've nine acres of land around here, containing an outdoor shooting range, a separated indoor gym, a 900 square meter pool, and the rest is free space so you can do whatever you want to do. And don't get me started on the underground level. The kinds of stuff and rooms would really make you wanna say 'like what'."

"Like what?" Pandora asked enthusiastically.

"See? What I tell ya?" I 'asked' rhetorically. But seriously though, we'll get to that later. Right now, I gotta show you guys where to settle in first. What're we waiting for? Come on in!" I opened the door after after leaning to the retinal scanner to unlock the door. Upon entrance, the place was lit by the sunlight, passing through the sliding glass door from the living room.

We just marched into the living room and I started pointing out the basic facilities as if they the house was a normal house, except every space in the house was wide and the ceilings were decorated with cornices and a chandelier, accompanied with no more than a few spot lamps. "That's the living room, the dining room is over there, that's the kitchen, there's a bathroom if you want to use that one, there's the door to the yard, and here in the upper level... Follow me," I said as I ran up the steps to the upper level, skipping one step as the others followed. Then I continued. "Here are the guests rooms. I've so many, just pick any one of them. Except this one, this one's mine," I said, pointing out to the door to my room. The hallway was as big as the living room, with the rooms as big as the A Famosa suites. A large window was at the end of the hallway, overlooking the yard and the forest. "And to the left at the end of the hallway is a door to roof access. There's a helipad though It's empty at the moment... Whelp, as always, gents and ladies will sleep in separate rooms. So go pick one that suits you best..." Different rooms has different decorations to suit my guests. "After you settle in, feel free to take a self tour and explore the estate and don't be afraid to ask J-Son if you have any questions, he'll be anywhere inside the property. I'll be at the living room, watching TV. Whelp, have fun at your stay!" I walked down to the living room to do what I mentioned just now.


	12. Chapter 12-Keep Your Friends Closer

**A/N: I'm back with an other chapter bros and gals! Welcome back! I'm sorry it took longer than usual, it was the iPad's fault. I was working on the chapter in the Notes app after breakfast then when I came back and opened the app, poof! All my notes gone. I couldn't recover them, so I had to rewrite the whole thing again on a different app, called Werdsmith****. At least I managed do it in three afternoons later. Okay, enough chit chat. I give you chapter 12!**

**Disclaimer**

******I don't own nor am affiliated to mentioned companies, copyrights and registered Trademark in this Xover. **Simply fictional, intended for entertainment purposes and not related to the living nor the dead. Any similarities between the real world and the Xover are completely coincidental.****

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**Keep Your Enemies Close, And Your Friends Closer...**

**Arif Retreat Estate**

**10.20 a.m.**

Nothing much happened in the past two days. No airstrikes, no bombings, no armed assaults... Everything was just peachy. Yesterday we had an outdoor barbecue in the yard outside the kitchen. Man, chargrilled steak never tasted any better.

After waking up at the right side of the bed (without another sleepless night, worrying about The Technologists) in the early sunrise, I had a warm shower in my luxurious bathroom, got dressed in new threads and slid down the stair rails to have breakfast. The Stiltons and a Woz were making breakfast for themselves as I nabbed a plate from the cabinet and started making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for myself.

Right after breakfast and throwing my plate in the dishwasher, I grabbed an acoustic guitar from its stand in the living room. I opened the sliding doors and marched outside. I laid down when I got to a side of a hill. Watched the clouds go by as the morning sun lit the American sky. Then I saw a cloud that really looked like my sister's face. It even winked at me. It made me flash back to the great times we had in the past...flying kites back at the ranch, playing and beating each other at video games, and scaring each other when we had the chance. Thinking of her made me feel both happy and sad simultaneously.

I took out my iPhone and put on a song and rested it next to my ear. I then laid my guitar on my stomach and started picking sad tunes as the song's instrumental played.

* * *

**Thea's Perspective**

I tailed Danny to the yard at the side of the hill. To keep him safe. I saw him lay down and watched the clouds, smiling alone, then frowned. I decided to do a little espionage. Don't get me wrong, I'll be there to be his company if he gets too bummed out again. He took out his phone from his pocket and put it next to his ear, playing 'You're Beautiful' by James Blunt. Then he laid his guitar on his stomach, starting to pick on the strings to the melodies of the guitar riff as the instrumental played. He added a little of his own lyrics to the song as well. It sounded a little like this:

***guitar riff intro***

**My life was brilliant,**

**My life was pure...**

**I saw an angel,**

**Of that I'm sure...**

**She'd smile when we were together,**

**But now she's gone...**

**And I've been losing sleep on that,**

**'Cuz now she's gone forever...**

**You're beautiful, you're beautiful,**

**You're beautiful, it's true...**

**I saw your face, on the hospital bed...**

**And I really didn't know what to do...**

**Now I'll never be with you...**

**Da da da da, da da da da...**

**Da da da da, da da da!**

**You're beautiful, you're beautiful!**

**Your beautiful, it's true...**

**There must be an angel, with the smile on her face,**

**And I thought I could actually be with you,**

**But it's hard to face the truth,**

**(In the saddest tone) I will never be with you...**

If I didn't know any better, I thought that he was singing about his sister. That concludes it, he's down in the dumps again. Welp, time to step in and interfere.

I stepped hard into the grass forward to get him to notice. "I know your up there Thea, come on down here," he called when he noticed me.

I walked down the hill to him and sat down. "Having one of your sad times again?"

"Yeah..." I laid down and put my paws on my stomach. He then switches to his Italian accent, making a deadpanned face expression. "Have ya ever been in a situation when you thought that you're ready to move on but you're actually not?"

"I can't say that I have," I replied, awkwardly.

"Huh...fa sure I thought you have. But 'cha know what I'm sayin', right?"

"Definitely. You must be devastated when lost them."

"I was, deeply."

Then I had a light bulb over my head. "Hey Danny, why don't I be your sister?" I said, turning my head, facing him.

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "What are ya talkin' about?"

"I'm saying that I want to be your pretend sister, to help you get over your sad times. But a much older sister, 7 years older in fact.

"You'd really do dat? Fa me?" He looked at me gladly.

"Anything for a kid like you who lost a sibling...and your whole family of course."

"Thank you, Thea. Really means a lot to me. Ya know, Geronimo's really lucky to have a little sis like you."

I blushed with glowing red cheeks. "Aw-shucks, Danny! Really?"

"I ain't kiddin'!" He replied, emphasizing by loudening his tone. "Ya help him get a scoop, ya save his life on some occasions, ya accompany him in his office when no one else is around when he does his work... I'm tellin' ya, ya do more than my sister does! Or at least, did..." He returned his proud smile back to a frown.

"Don't worry guy, I gotcha here... Now c'mon, let's go back inside. What's to do out here?"

"And what do you have planned inside, huh?"

"Well, you haven't showed me what's underground yet. Come to think of it, you have showed all of us what's underground yet."

"Aight then, I'll give you guys an exclusive tour. Let's go." We hopped back on our feet, or paws...Danny put on a show by getting up with a martial arts flip. Not forgetting what he took out of his pocket, we scampered back inside, with me feeling excited. Danny opened the doors, and the cold breeze from the inside air blew at us. As we entered, the others were seen doing their own stuff. Trap was on the couch, reading a magazine about pranks. The two mouslings were racing each other split screen in Need For Speed Most Wanted on Danny's Xbox, and Geronimo was surfing the internet on his MacBook Pro at the dining table, looking for a countermeasure against The Technologists' artillery.

We both approached him. "Hey, Geronimo. We were just going to take a tour in the underground levels. Wanna come with?" I asked.

"I'll...pass. I'm still looking for a counterattack against AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles and Black Hawks. You go on ahead."

The mouselings must've overheard. "Can we come?" said the two, simultaneously as their cars crashed head-to-head into each other.

"Sure," Danny permitted.

"Just be safe in there," advised Geronimo.

"No worries, the underground levels are secured and no one except me and you guys know about it," Danny reassured.

Geronimo looks around. "I know, but I can't help feeling that we're being eyed for some reason."

"Like a woman's intuition?" I insinuated.

"Yes, sort of. Don't you feel it, Thea?"

"Now that you've mentioned it, I do feel it. A tiny bit. But Danny's got some high tech security equipment underground. Isn't that right, Danny?" I turned to him.

"Uh..yeah! C'mon guys, let's go."

We followed Danny to the elevator which was unseen until he put his eye in front of a camouflaged retinal scanner. It was next to Geronimo, just a few feet where he was sitting. The doors which were also camouflaged as walls opened, and we stepped inside.

**Later that morning...**

**2 hours later**

Nearly half an hour after surveying replacement weapons in the much larger and organized armory, we then went to the library, then the airsoft room, where he keeps everything related to airsoft, then the 'remote controlled room' where he stores his remote controlled toys, followed the developer's room where he develops his video game(s).

We rode the secret elevator back up, rearmed with KRISS Vectors, including the mouslings (who were given the green light by the World Court). Those two resumed on racing (after repairing their cars) while Danny and I marched outside. Geronimo was at the range again (he was there yesterday), in his black shirt. His body and his M870 shotgun recoiled as he shot three slug rounds out of the 12 gauge barrel at a silhouette target 30 meters away, pumping the slide with every shot. His orange earmuffs absorbed the loud gunshot sounds, preventing his eardrums from tearing as the neon green-tinted protective eyewear retained his vision.

He noticed us walking towards him as he ejected his final shotgun shell. "Ah, Thea, Danny. You're back," he said, laying his shotgun on the table of his shooting booth. He took off his earmuffs after that. "How was the tour for you Thea?"

"It was awesome! You should have come with us."

"Having fun with the 12 gauge?" Danny asked.

"Well, I _am_ having _some_ fun," he answered, emphasizing the words 'am' and 'some', smiling. "But other than that, I'm just preparing for another possible battle with The Technologists. I can see you two have done your preparations as well?"

"Yeah, we switched to KRISS Vectors," I replied, feeling pumped as a cheerleader.

"I _can_ use .45s, right," Danny wanted to reconfirm.

"Hmm...they didn't say what specific caliber you should use. But regarding to that matter, the General Secretariat called me on behalf if the World Court. They've given the go for all of us to carry assault rifles and or carbines at all times." Danny was deadpanned, raising both eyebrows. "So now I want you and the others to rearm yourselves once again."

Danny looked up, pumping his fists. "Yesssssss..." We headed back in and got the others to follow us back into the armory and chose the weapons of our choice.

**Later that day...**

**7.56 p.m.**

We spent almost half of the afternoon inside the armory, picking the most suitable weapons with ourselves. While the others were in the mini movie theater (which either me or Danny forgot to mention he had one), I was just going down the stairs after freshening up for the late night movie. I had my SCAR-L assault rifle slinging on my shoulder by a strap. I equipped it with a variety of attachments that included a foregrip, an EoTech 552 holographic sight and an extended, quad-stack, 60-round STANAG magazine.

The theater was separated from the mansion but it was connected by a roofed pathway with glass walls. It's entrance was at the side of the elevator. Lit by floor lights, I walked through the tunnel in my night cloths.

I pushed the theater door, and let it close by itself. I just figured out then that half the theater was built underground judging by the inclined rows of seats and the presence of stairs. With their weapons hanging on a hook behind the seats in front of them, I saw the others chit chatting and eating popcorn as they waited for my arrival. I crept stealthily, but it fail as I stepped on a squeaky floorboard. Benjamin noticed and saw me coming down.

"C'mon Aunt Thea! We've been waiting to watch Hot Fuzz!"

"Okay, I'm coming," I replied, starting to scurry down the steps.

"I thought kids aren't allowed to watch this movie," said Trap, scarfing down a pawful of popcorn from his bucket.

"We aren't, that's why I bought the censored version," Danny replied.

I tried to find a seat of the same row as them. Lucky enough, they saved me one, at the middle of the row, right next to Danny and Pandora.

I squeezed my way through and made it to my seat. "Popcorn?" Danny offered as I sat down. It was a good treat, how could I say no? I know it'll ruin my diet (although I am already curved and slender), but a little won't hurt.

"Sure," I accepted. I peered into the bucket and reached my paw in for the most buttered popcorn in the bucket.

"I just noticed something," said Pandora as I threw the popcorn kernel into my mouth.

"What?" I asked while chewing.

"Our guns have the same attachments and options," she analyzed, looking at others' guns. She was right. The same sights, foregrip and magazine capacity was applied to Geronimo's M4 CQB, Pandora's G36C, followed by Benjamin's SCAR PDW, and Trap's ACR Bushmaster. The only one different was Danny's HK416. It had an EoTech hybrid scope set, a bipod foregrip and flashlight, and an AN-PEQ 5 laser module.

"What are we? Telepathic?" Benjamin said sarcastically.

"Huh...go figure," Danny responded. "Alright, time to start the movie. J-Son! Lights out and roll the film!"

* * *

**Seven hours after the movie ended...**

**3.50 a.m.**

Danny and I were at Ehra-Lessien again. This time, I was driving Phantom in top speed. It was at high noon in the middle of autumn. The leaves were on the road and it flew again as Phantom sped past them. The holographic speedometer and the physical one read 274 miles and hour. With Danny as my co-driver, we almost tackled through the course. We couldn't hear each other talk, so we wore microphone equipped helmets.

"SO MUCH SPEED!" I yelled to the top of my lungs.

"You can say that again!"

It was almost near the 9.6 kilometer mark, but I haven't seen a single sight of the banked turn.

In the worst moment and speed to appear, a brick wall was seen with my keen mouse eyes, just one klick away. It was only a few seconds until we hit it.

I released my paw from the accelerator. "Uh, Danny! Brick wall up ahead!"

He didn't seem to care. He even suggested to drive into it! "Go right into it!"

"YOU OUTTA YOUR MIND?" I shouted into the microphone. "That's it, I'm stopping!" I stepped on the brakes as hard as I could. But the speed was only decreasing because of the accelerator pedal being released. I kicked it again and again. But still nothing. It seems that the brake cables have been cut.

I began to panic. "Uh-oh! The brakes are gone! Danny! What do we do?"

"Nothing! J-Son! Take over the controls!"

"Yes sir!" Phantom kept accelerating and even injected some NOS into the engine. I breathed heavily, the adrenalin rush made me restless as my heartbeat uncontrollably intensified.

"SEE YA ON THE OTHER SIDE, THEA!" Danny said his last words before we...

CRASH! Whew, I just woke up from another bad dream. Thank Gouda... I jolted up and sat on my bed. I was sweating, heavily breathing as adrenaline coursed along my bloodstream, and I was in an extreme shock. But the crash from the dream turned out to be real. It came from downstairs in the living room. It was loud, not from a drinking glass, it was as if the glass coffee table was being broken. J-son then sounded the intruder alarm.

"Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" J-Son alarmed.

Pandora seemed to have waken up too. "Thea," she called softly from the other bed.

"I heard. Follow the plan."

"What was it exactly?"

"You and Benjamin go protect Danny in his room. Me, Geronimo, and Trap will go after him."

"Got it..."

We grabbed our rifles that we tucked under our covers, just in case. We got out off our beds, got locked and loaded, and moved out of the room.

The boys from the room across the hall had already gone out. "Just in time, Thea," said Geronimo.

"Let's move," I replied.

The junior agents stealthily scampered to Danny's room and Benjamin knocked on his door thrice. He peeps out at first. "Quick, get in," he whispered.

Then I instructed Danny on how to stay safe. "Stay inside and be safe. Close the door and don't answer for anyone unless it's from one of us three, got it?" He nodded and shut the door.

The three of us took one-by-one steps on the stairs, not to alarm the intruder. We had help from the pads on our paws, they really assisted us. Downstairs in the living room, the tempered glass coffee table was smashed into tiny, sharp pieces. Then I saw a glimpse of a man about Danny's height in a black suit, a ski mask with a backpack. He crossed his arms in front of his face to cover it and escaped by running through the glass of the sliding doors, smashing more glass.

"There he is," Trap said quickly.

"Split up, you two chase him. I'll intercept him from the front," Geronimo commanded. Then, we started a foot chase. Or rather, a paw chase.

Geronimo ran down as I vaulted over the rails to make things go faster. Trap and I jumped over the glass to avoid our paws getting cut. We weren't wearing shoes, but we do on occasions.

We ran outside, aligning our site on his abdomen as we did. It was hard to see because of his dark apparel matching the surroundings. But the spotlights shone bright on the estate, making him slightly visible. He was really fast, nimble, and skinny. He sprinted as fast as the worlds fastest human, Usian Bolt, vaulted over plants and deck chairs, even slid under the outdoor table. We tried to sprint too but because of the heavy armament we carried, running wasn't really that easy. And with Trap running out stamina, I was forced to chase him alone...

Until the plan fell into place.

Geronimo then emerges from the courtyard and jumped on the intruder, landing with a loud grunt from both individuals. One of the grunts sounded very familiar. He sounded like a teenager who just entered puberty. The intruder cried as Geronimo kneeled on his back, putting his arms together, and cuffed them with plastic cable ties.

"Good job, G," Trap commented, panting.

Then he got back up on his foot, with Geronimo's aid. "Alright kid, let's see who you are." I let my SCAR sling on my shoulder and unmasked the perp. We just couldn't believe it. The three of us recoiled in a rude awakening.

It was Danny's neighbor and best friend back in Malaysia, Firas.

"What In the name of Gouda? Firas?"

"LET ME GO!" He yelled in my face, struggling to be free.

"You were the mole? This whole time?"

He 'answered' in a scratchy voice, trying to sound tough. "I know my rights. I don't have to say another word..."

"I cannot believe you! How could you betray your own best friend?"

"You don't understand. I ain't doing this for myself."

I put my right arm akimbo. "Yeah, but what if he finds out? What's he gonna think of you then?"

Geronimo then intervenes. "That's enough, the both of you." Then the turns to Firas. "And you, you have more to say when we interrogate you later. Right now, your under arrest for suspected espionage and trespassing an area under Interpol protection and surveillance. Trap, get Interpol on the phone for prisoner transport." He nodded and reached into his pocket for his phone.

"You...have a lot to explain," I said, looking at him with a face expression that said: "boyh, you're in a heap o' trouble'.

"I highly doubt that..."

* * *

**My Perspective**

I woke up from my sleep, in another dream to the intruder alarm. I got out of bed and nabbed the HK416 that was on my bedside table. After pulling the charging handle and turned the safety off, I took two huge steps to the light switch and turned them on. I followed the plan, and waited for Pandora and Benjamin to knock three times on my door. Not even finishing my first step away from the switch, the three knocks were heard. That was the signal to let my guardian angels in.

I took a quick peep with one eye. "Quick, get in," I said, opening the door wider.

I almost closed the door when Thea instructed me. "Stay inside and be safe. Close the door and don't answer for anyone unless it's from one of us three, got it?" I nodded and shut the door quietly.

Benjamin sat on the swivel chair of my computer desk set while Pandora took a seat on my bed. I sat next to her. Nothing to be embarrassed about, everyone was wearing pjs.

I sighed as I sat. "I don't like where this is going guys, not one bit. No one was supposed to know we were here."

"Did you feel any disturbances?" Benjamin asked, spinning on his chair.

"I...actually did. In my sleep." Then I felt it again, the chills down my spine, the goosebumps on my skin... I knew something else was wrong. "Whoa...there it is again."

"TWO disturbances in one night? Something must be really going on," Pandora concluded.

A few short minutes later, someone knocked on the door. "It's me, Thea!"

I answered the door. "Is it over?

I opened the door wider. "Uh...yeah. At lease this one is."

I felt relieved. "Oh, thank goodness..."

"But there's one slight problem. He's the mole and your not gonna believe who he was."

"I really don't wanna know..."

"Believe me, you should." She crossed her arms.

"Fine, hit me."

She uncrossed her arms. "I'm really sorry to say this, Danny...it was Firas."

I just laughed. "Oh, Thea... You're a real joker, I must say. But seriously though, who is it?" She raised her eyebrow. I recoiled into my room "No! You're not kidding!"

"Like I said, I'm sorry."

I looked out my window. "There has to be a mistake!"

"Believe me, there isn't." She walked into my room.

I turned to her. "No, no, no, no... That's-that's not the Firas I know and befriended with!" I stuttered, pointing out the window. I didn't even notice the two teenage mice's presence, listening to our argument.

"I know that's not him when you met him but he is what he is right now." Silence filled the room as the mouselings watched us argue awkwardly. I looked on the floor. "Prisoner transport's gonna pick him up in 15 minutes for interrogation at Interpol Washington-"

"Prisoner? How dare to refer to him as that!"

"Like I said with all due respect, he a no-good two-faced rat as we all know right know," she said, raising her tone.

I stormed past her, exiting the room. "We'll check the camera feeds then, I'll prove to you that he's innocent!"

"No use for that, we've found an iPad in his backpack. On the screen was a custom-built hacking software he used hack the camera's viewing angle." I stopped at the door upon hearing that.

"I've installed a hidden camera inside my Xbox's motion sensor on top of the TV. We'll find out from that..." I continued race-walking at while Thea followed me.

**Security Room, Underground Levels**

I really wanted to reject everything I saw in that video. I cried above the desk as the wall-mounted screen played, propping myself up with my arms. With every teardrop was a regret for not knowing that my best friend was a traitor.

In the footage, he was seen outside, holding his iPad to hack the cameras. The he picked the lock to the sliding doors to get inside. He closed it when he was in the living room, then he took out a handful of small devices that appeared to be bugs. Placing them all over the house. Under the cushions, behind the TV, even in the vase at the dining table. He looked around walking backwards. Finally, he tripped on the carpet, falling on his back and destroyed the coffee table.

I hung my head in misery as my eyes teared, dropping on the desk,. Feeling confused, mad and sad. "WHY IS IT ALWAYS MY FAULT!" I yelled in anger, swiping everything off the desk. I felt the bad aura filling the space. My elbows propped my body as grasped my hair in frustration.

Thea came to my side, laying her weapon on the desk. "Don't be so hard on yourself. None of us knew that this was gonna happen."

"Oh, Thea... Where did I go wrong with this..." I asked, weeping.

"We'll find out why he did this to you."

Then I made a decision and stopped weeping. "I wanna find out for myself. I'm going after him." I turned and walked away.

Thea tailed me. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that. You know that it's too risky for you to be out in the open."

"I don't care, I just wanna know why," I disregarded, and kept walking.

Thea caught up to me and put her paw on my shoulder. "Danny, wait-"

I cut her off. "Either you come with me, or I go alone and let one of my cars drive me."

She took a breath and sighed, letting go of me. "Danny, as your friend, I totally respect your decision, and I'm coming with you."

"I'm glad. Let's gear up."

**Not so significantly long minutes later...**

Everyone had powdered their noses, had a hot shower, with thermostat set on extremely hot (water was cold in American nights), got dressed in clean threads and got to the garage.

"Welcome to my sanctum!" I introduced the three mice to the garage. The juniors were upstairs.

"It's so much larger than the one you had Malaysia," Thea commented. It's true, it was much larger. It had a separate servicing station with complete equipment of an auto-repair garage and there are four turntables at the corners which was housed by my most used cars. There's one on the end of the garage, where the cars park after they drive out of storage, and where the holograms are projected for showcase. Also, the walls were sound insulated.

"Geronimo, you can drive Ameera."

"The keys are still inside her, right?"

"On one condition," I cut him off. "I get to come along."

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that. You know that it's too risky for you to be out in the open."

"That's exactly what she said. Literally," I stated, pointing to Thea.

"And what are the consequences if I don't?"

"I will tell Ameera to lock her manual controls and let her drive you while executing Protocol Rally."

"What _is_ Protocol Rally, exactly?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Thea told me that you could be car sick at times, so this protocol is new that I programed into her commands. She'll turn on off-road mode and navigate through routes with the most turns, jumps and bumps at high speed. Both asphalt and dirt."

His face expression turns into one that said: 'you kiddin' me bro?' As he uncrossed his arms. "She had to tell you. You just had to tell him, didn't you, Thea?" he said, turning to his little sister, waving his arms.

"Sorry," apologized the sister. Geronimo kept silent to think about his decision. Thea approached her brother. "G, he lost his parents, he lost his dear sister, and just now, he just lost his best friend."

"Don't make me lose another one, G," I interrupted, referring to him. He sighed.

"Please, Geronimo. He only wants to find out why he did this to him," continued Thea.

Geronimo sighed again. "Alright, fine. But only because your my friend. And someone once told me that: 'you haven't lost anything until you lose a friend'."

"Then it's settled!" Thea exclaimed in joy.

"One more thing," I interrupted again, "get Benjamin and Pandora to come along. I'll need their moral support."

Geronimo groaned then reached into his coat pocket for his iPhone. "Yes, it's me, Benjamin. Danny wants you and Pandora to come along. He needs your moral support. Yes, he'll send the elevator up."

They came down after I scanned my eye. In their everyday outfits and weapons slinging on their shoulders, they hopped in and strapped in their seats. I summoned Antonio, my 2013 Lamborghini Aventador LP-700-4, out of storage.

With the EMP charged, turrets functional, the power of 880 horses outputting from the mid-mounted V12, and the downforce from the retractable spoiler, I knew that we were ready to get the show on the road.

As our two cars rolled out of the garage door, the lights planted at the side of the dirt path shone on our cars. Antonio's 20-inch, matte black, reinforced carbon fiber wheels slowly spun in style as Thea drove him slowly on the path, revving him. So was Ameera's 20-inch, 5-spoke, 911 Carrera wheels.

In the cockpit, the darkness inside was lit by the digital gauges and the HUD display. She reached for the spoiler adjuster switch and pushed it to raise the retractable spoiler. As the convoy stopped to wait for the gates to open, Thea brakes and shifts back to neutral gear as we tailed the prisoner transport truck.

"Thea, thanks for still having my back. Although I only met you and the gang a few days ago, I've full trust in you guys. It ain't easy to put your faith in someone in a 'trust no one, outrun everyone' kinda situation, you know?"

"Your welcome," she replied.

The gates finally opened, and the Interpol convoy continued their journey. The truck moved, and Thea shifted up into first, and repeatedly stepped on the sensitive gas pedal, to make Antonio drive very slowly. We exited the estate's gates, with the escorts outside the gates following behind us in their Dodge Chargers. We navigated through the dark, unlit forest and reached the empty highway.

* * *

**After a brief helicopter chase cam shot on the highways...**

**Interpol Washington-Interrogation room**

**5.12 a.m.**

I stood inside in the observation room with Thea and Geronimo, staring at his revolting face in disgust, with my hands on my back as he was being interrogated by Trap. Nothing seems to work, he just ignored whatever Trap said. He stared into the wall behind Trap, making a poker face. You do know who am I talking about right?

Trap was about fed up being ignored, so he left with empty hands. Or paws for this matter.

He then re-enters the room we were in, shutting the door behind him. "This isn't working guys, I can't crack his safe of secrets."

"Let me talk to him," I suggested. I looked back at them. "He'll only talk to me. Only I can crack that safe."

Everyone looked at Geronimo, waiting for his approval. "I can respect that."

"Thanks," I thanked (obviously), smiling. I stepped out, taking out my phone out of my pocket. I took time to set up my video that I sent from my Xbox cam. Then, I entered the interrogation room.

My life plunged into slow motion. As I entered the room, I breathed in the cold air, the smell of wooden scent from IKEA furniture inside stimulated my nasal receptors. My iris opened wide from the lack of light, as my retinas hungered for it. Firas was on the criminal's side of the room, his face first seemed shock when he saw me. Around him, floating, were imaginary seen words. Random words. I deducted everything that related to friendship, and they slowly disappeared. Then, the only words left was two-faced, double agent, back-stabber, two-timer, rat, a snake in the grass, traitor, and the most hurtful one of all, LIAR, spelled in all caps.

My life went back to normal speed. "Danny, I-I'm so sorry I did this to you. B-b-but I-I-I can fix this-" he stuttered.

I cut him off. "SAVE IT! I don't wanna hear another word. Now you tell me, that this isn't you..." I showed him to he video, leaning on the desk. Only within seconds the video played, he broke into tears and looked away, trying to deny it. "SAY THAT IT ISN'T SO!" My eyes watered as well.

"I'm sorry man, I couldn't live with the guilt anymore... It's me..." he said, sobbing. I recoiled in disdain.

"I PUT MY FAITH IN YOU! I TRUSTED YOU WITH ALL MY HEART! INSTEAD, YOU TOOK IT AND THREW IT OUT THE WINDOW!" He stayed quiet. "Why?!"

"Just one day before the Caltech infiltration, my parents and I were just having a happy family dinner at a restaurant," he started explaining, also I forgot to mention that he didn't have any siblings. "The next morning I got a call from an anonymous person, claimed that he was one of The Technologists. He said that they tampered the food my parents ate the night before with an electric-generating chip. If I don't become an inside man and send them intel every two days, they'll send down a hundred kilovolts to their brains, killing them instantly. So you see, I didn't really have a choice!"

I snapped, throwing my cellphone to the wall, destroying it and cutting him off. "YOU COULD HAVE COME TO ME! OR THEA, OR GERONIMO WHEN YOU HAD THE CHANCE!"

"I was so scared that they'd find out!"

A moment of silence entered the room. "So all those times we spent, were a lie? Just to gain my trust?"

"No, don't say that..." he rejected, shaking.

"YOU'RE DENYING IT BECAUSE IT'S TRUE!" I yelled. "After all I've done for you, after all we've been through... THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME!" My anger was at the peek. I felt the Dark Side pulling me in, injecting me with power I've never felt. Someone had to save me before it consumes me.

I picked him up with Telekinesis, slamming him to the wall, Force Chocking him. "Danny-please! Let me-argh-go!"

* * *

**Thea's Perspective**

We watched in horror as Danny slammed Firas to the wall. Clearly his anger was at the top of its peak. "He's turning Sith! Thea, calm him down, NOW!" My brother ordered.

Without hesitation, I ran out the room and stormed into the next. "Danny! Stop it! This isn't who you are!" Gladly he heard me, slowly letting him down. Firas dropped on the floor crouching, gasping for air and holding his throat, coughing. I went to check on him, said he was okay. He walked back to his seat. As for Danny, he was losing his balance, swaying from side to side. He collapsed, luckily I managed to catch him as he was about to slam his head to the ground.

I rested him on my lap. "Danny! Danny, you OK?" I called, trying to get him conscious. He groaned as a response. 'Thank goodmouse, he's alright,' I thought. "You need some medical attention. Geronimo! Get a medic in-" he cut me off.

"No. Don't. I'm fine..." He wanted to get up, I helped him because he was still losing his balance.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yeah, yeah, just a little headache."

He sat on his seat and continued. I stayed behind him just in case something else happened. He took a deep breath and let it out heavily. He started with a deadpanned but serious look on his face. "So let me get this straight, so you were the whole reason that The Technologists knew where to find me?"

"Yeah," Firas replied, wiping his tears away. "I ain't proud of it."

"Explain."

"When you were walking to the shops with Thea, I tracked you down with your phone's GPS signal from home. I told the goons that you two were at the park. You shouldn't have turned it on."

"Probably the dumbest thing I've ever done... What about the car bombing?"

"I saw the display of your GPS in the car when you guys picked me up from school. You plotted a course set towards KL Tower. Then I told them that you were headed towards there, so they sent a guy to camp there until you came and left the car. That was when he made his move and strap a block of RDX on the undercarriage. He was in a black Sprinter." Come to think of it, there was a Merc Sprinter at the lot. He was there when we came, and gone when we were about to leave. "Thea, you shouldn't have plotted the course before you picked me up."

"Probably the dumbest thing I've ever done," I interrupted.

"And finally the attack, I just gave them your home address. That's all." I facepalmed and propped my body up with my elbows, feeling disappointed. Then I looked up. "But I know how to fix this. You have to trust me when I say I can-" when he said that, something inside me ticked. He just struck my nerve.

I snapped. "Trust you? TRUST YOU? After what you did to me...you expect me to TRUST YOU!"

"Please," Firas begged.

Danny leaned on the desk once again. "You want my trust? EARN IT. The same way you did for four years." He got up and had enough, with the chairs legs screeching against the floor. "C'mon, Thea. We're done here." He stormed out, I followed him slowly. As I closed the door, I could hear Firas weeping in regret.

I caught up to Danny who was beginning to slow his steps down in the hallway. "How'd you take it?" I asked.

"Regretfully," he answered. "It's confirmed, I lost another friend..."

I felt sorry for him. "D'awww, poor guy... Come here." In hopes of cheering him up, I threw my arm on his back and pulled him to my side. Bumping with a grunt, at least that put a faint smile on his face. We continued walking like that until we reached the lab.

As we entered the lab, Pandora and Benjamin were in the break room, respectively sucking on a lolipop and playing Real Racing 3 on a Ben Pad.

They rushed for us as they saw us enter the room. "How'd it go?" asked Pandora.

"Not so well, I had to snap him out because he slammed Firas against the wall, with the Force," I answered.

"That's not good, I can tell you that," Benjamin stated.

We started walking to the break room. "Aw, you poor thing. Come on let me take you in. I've a milkshake dispenser in the break room. Hope that cheers you up!" Pandora offered.

By the look on his face, he was getting better already. "I'd...I'd like that."

* * *

Danny will be running for the hills in the next chapter. See ya then!


	13. Chapter 13-The Run For The Hills

**A/N: Im back! Hope two weeks wasnt long for you all. All the action happens here! And introducing the Thea Sisters! Welp, happy one hour of reading! (At least that's what Werdsmith calculated...)**

**Disclamer**

**I own nothing except the OCs**

* * *

**Chapter 13**

**The Run For The Hills**

**Interpol Washington-Lab**

**9.10 a.m.**

I was sitting by Danny at the Pandora's desk, while chatting with the Thea Sisters on Facebook. With Danny sitting on Pandora's chair while the two mouselings went out for breakfast with Trap, I could tell that he's bored by the way that he was humming 'Payphone', 'Get Lucky' and 'Happy' while tapping the beats on the desk after listening to music from Pandora's radio, laying his head on the top for almost a few hours. Even I was moved by the rhythm, I was shaking my head back and forth as I chatted. And to help him reduce his depression, he's drank four large cups of milkshake in the past few hours.

As Danny drank his last slurp of his sixth (and final) large cup of vanilla milkshake that he got ten minutes ago, Geronimo waltzed up to the door. He signaled me to come forth.

I put my feet down and stood up, readjusted and refined my clothes, then took some steps to my brother. "Yes, Geronimo?"

"How's he holding up?" He asked, peering over my shoulder.

I counted Danny's activities with my fingers. "Um, let's see, he's humming songs while tapping his nails on the desk, he's drank 6 large cups of vanilla milkshake without going to the bathroom, he mentioned that he wanted to play games on his phone but he already smashed it during interrogation...how do you think he's doing?" I 'asked' cynically.

He recoiled with euphemism. "Cheese, Thea! I just wanted to know if his stress levels are high...which is clearly mild right now, judging by his boredom."

"Why do you want to know again?"

"Because we need to keep his stress down. We don't want him to go all Sith again."

I went back inside and sat on my chair, leaning at Danny. "Hey champ, how do ya feel?"

His cheek was on the desktop. "Like I wanna commit shuishide," he replied unclearly.

"C'mon, don't be like that..."

"I'll give you a hint, I've been shinging shongs in my head and humming them out loud."

I played dumb. "I have NO clue."

He raised his head off the desktop. "I'm BORED, Thea! Man, I really wish I haven't smashed my phone to the wall a few hours ago." Then he stands up. "Hey, do me a favor and wait for me outside the men's room."

I stood up as well. "May I ask why?"

"Are you kidding me? Having 6 large cups of vanilla milkshake doesn't make you pee? Now come on, before my bladder bursts like a water balloon."

"Whoa! OK, OK..."

* * *

**My Perspective**

**After the short bathroom break...**

Geronimo had all of us huddled back at the lab's break room, after Trap, Benjamin and Pandora returned from lunch and after me and Thea returned from the bathroom break.

"After further discussion with the Secretary General, we've decided for us relocate, again."

"Where would we go?" asked the young and naive Benjamin.

"Anywhere, as long as The Technologists doesn't track us down."

I interrupted. "I know of a place. I've a secret underground base somewhere in the country."

"Where is it?" Trap asked intriguingly.

"The downside of this is that...it's about twenty-five thousand miles away. In the middle of the Nevada Desert."

Everyone seemed shocked. Except for Geronimo, who was stroking his chin, considering about the option. "Hmm... I'm considering it, but the trip will take almost three days, or more on normal roads and I-80 in normal speeds, with the amount of traffic almost inconsistent everyday. And the risk is very high because the escort cars are unarmed."

"I can arrange the cars. I'll pick the cars that has the most weapons and security systems. And speaking of escorts, I don't want other Interpol agents involved. I don't want them to know that we're running this relocation because I don't want another mole situation to happen again."

Thea raises her paw. "Yes, Thea?" Geronimo responded.

"I think I can find us some five escorts. Mouse escorts."

Geronimo then turns his body to her, feeling interested. "Who did you have in mind?"

"The Thea Sisters."

Geronimo crossed his arms. "Aren't they still studiying?"

"They're on their semester break. What do you think I'm here for? I teach them journalism and train them in between classes."

"Train as in...commando training?" He reconfirmed, waving his paw.

She then nods. "Who knows if we ever need their backup?"

"Ooo...kay then," said Geronimo awkwardly. He turned to me. "Danny, how many cars that you're willing to prepare?"

"Okay, so that's six of us and five of them, which gives us a total of 11 people. And each car seats two, so... I'll prepare about 16 cars. Really essential to me. They consists of the Ghosts and the Bugatti Siblings."

"Okay then, I'll phone the Secretary General to reconfirm with him about the specific location of the relocation, the escorts and their vehicles and to approve us to drive over the speed limit to speed up the journey's time. We'll call this one, 'Operation The Run.'" He walks away and leaves us in the room as he talks with the Secretary General.

* * *

**Arif Retreat Estate, 9.50 a.m.**

We all jumped back into Ameera and Antonio to our soon-to-be-left home while being escorted by a group of four cars (again). The two autonomous smart vehicles drove to the courtyard to drop us off at the porch. Once we got out, the two drove back slowly to the garage, thanking them for the lift as they drove away.

We ran upstairs to our rooms and packed quickly (especially me, who only needed a few clothes in a duffel bag and a replacement iPhone). I shut the door to my room and sat in the hallway outside. While waiting for the others to finish, I raced a few Cup races in Real Racing 3 (I got so bored at that time).

Just when I was about to overtake the leader at the final stretch, Pandora and Thea came out, actually rushed out of their rooms with their bags. They were panting and taking cover beside the door, shutting it when they stormed out. It really looked like a cat crept in through window and into the room. I paused my race at Suzuka Circuit and asked. "Whoa! Whoa! Where's the fire?" I asked them. "You guys look like you were taking cover in a gunfight."

Thea then responds. "That's because there is one, OUTSIDE AT THE COURTYARD!"

I repelled and got up. "WHAT?"

Pandora interrupts. "They've made it past the gates and almost pierced the escort defenses. They're gonna get through any second!"

Thea peers over into the boys' room. "GERONIMO!"

He then sticks his snout out. "I overheard what happened. Were all packed!"

"But where are we suppose to escape? The front door's blocked!" Benjamin interrupted, sticking his snout under his uncle's.

"There's a hidden secret escape slide in your room that leads into the storage garage!" I informed.

"Have it revealed, then!" Geronimo ordered. We entered the room.

I hit the palm of my hand hard on the floor in the middle of the room. A person-sized circle was pushed down, and slid away into the floor. There it was, the slide.

"Throw in your weapons first," I instructed as I held the sling. Everyone followed. We dropped them in and planned to pick them up later. "Alright, we'll go one by one. Drop while hugging your luggage."

Pandora went first. "Ladies first!"

Benjamin was second. "Boys second!"

Trap went in next. "Woohoo!"

Me and Thea followed. "GERONIMO!"

And Geronimo in last. "Hup!"

We landed in the storage garage on our feet and paws safely, wiping the dust off our clothes (the escape slide hasn't been used in a while). The place was just like a multilevel underground parking garage. We picked up our weapons and slinged them back on our shoulders. "Sorry the slide was a little dusty guys," I apologized. "No ones been here a while so, you get the point."

"S'alright," said Benjamin who was still wiping dust off his shirt. "I've been itching to ditch these threads and wash 'em anyways."

"Okay, time to assign you guys to your vehicles. Thea, you're with me in Pierre. Geronimo, you go with Benjamin in Colette. Pandora, you're riding in Anton with Trap."

"Alright gang! Get to your assigned vehicles, start your engines and roll out!" Geronimo ordered loudly, clapping his paws.

The Stiltons, one Woz and me scampered to our Bugatti's. After the three cars opened their trunk lid (which was also the hood), rested our luggage in the trunk (which was in the front for people who doesn't love and know cars as much as I do), hopped in and pushed the start button, while not forgetting our seat belts. As Thea held the steering wheel and the HUD started projecting, I patched in the comlink signals to each other's cars.

"Geronimo, Trap, do you read?" I said, testing the signal strength.

"Loud and clear," Geronimo responded.

"Every word," Trap responded.

"Okay, keep your comlinks patched in and follow me and Thea as we lead us out of here. Ghosts, you guys are coming with me!"

"Copy that, sir!" they obeyed.

"J-Son! Execute Evac and Self-Destruct Protocol!"

"On it, sir!" He replied.

The garage walls echoed off of other cars' starting engines and they moved towards the upper levels. By other cars, I meant EVERY car in the garage.

Thea looked at me curiously as she pushed the gearstick into drive, probably the way the cars are driving out. "What's Evac and Self-Destruct Protocol?"

"I'd love to explain, but right now? We need to bail, fast! Start by exiting to your left." We drove out from the parking space and followed the other supercars to the upper level, to the backup emergency exit. "Get into the tunnel that says: 'Emergency exit', and floor it." I instructed.

Thea turned on Pierre's headlights and we were driving behind Antonio and alongside Ameera in the two-lane tunnel. Geronimo and Trap were behind us, followed by Diane and the Ghosts. The tunnel started to incline upwards slightly, about to act as a ramp. The quad-turbochargers where whirring up at 7900 rpm, Thea shifts up, letting go a pop of backfire. Although cruising at 168 miles an hour, everyone stayed calm and quiet. It maybe that or everyone was so nervous that they couldn't squeak or utter a single word. We sped along up until a few seconds later, a light was shining in our eyes at the end of the tunnel.

"Hold on guys, we're gonna catch some air!" I warned as we almost reached the tunnel's end. At about 172 miles an hour, we and a sum of 500+ supercars launched a few feet in the air like a rally car tackling a jump as we found ourselves back in the middle of the forest. Thea forgot to let go of the gas, resulting Pierre to redline. In about 0.88 seconds of being airborne later, Pierre and the others landed on the tires with us jolting our heads due to centrifugal force. Pierre and the rest of the cars activate their Rally Modes, making them retread their tires to spiky off-road patterns and increase their ride height by 20 millimeters.

Thea pilots through the forest along the dirt path at high speed as if she was Sebastien Loeb. "So, what was Evac and Self-Destruct Protocol again?" she asked.

"Evac involves all my cars and the residents of the property to evacuate out of that property. The cars go scatter all over the country, hiding in different locations depending on which the property is located in."

She then drifts at a sharp but not-so-angled right corner. "You stole the Jackspot concept from Need For Speed Most Wanted, didn't you?" I kept quiet, with a strained silence entering the air-conditioning vents. "What about Self-Destruct?"

"As the name implies, I planted some few explosives all over the property and blow it all up to the ground, starting with the bio-ethanol supply tank in the storage garage."

She barely hit a tree when she maneuvered through a hard right. "YOU ARE GOING TO BLOW UP YOUR AWESOME AND ONE OF A KIND ESTATE?"

"I have to, Thea. It's the only way The Technologists can't know about my secret." I contacted J-Son. "J-son get ready to detonate. On my one, 3...2...1..."

The sound of the multiple explosions at the estate rocked our convoy and possibly the whole forest. A giant mushroom cloud was seen in the horizon via the rear view mirrors. The assaulters from just now may not have survived the explosion, that is; if they haven't left. I thought that it had a sentimental value to Thea by the way she was saying: "Goodbye, beautiful estate."

We almost made it back to the asphalt, about 2 more miles away. What I didn't mention before about the first two miles of the forest is that it's the most intense parts of the course. "You want some help with this part of the dirt course? It gonna get really hairy round here."

She drove Pierre over a crest. "Yes, PLEASE!"

"Okay, do you prefer normal rally pacenotes or Jemba notes?" Jemba notes are American rally pace notes.

"Normal notes!"

"Geronimo and Trap know how to interpret this?"

"Yes, we three were in a rallying championship back in NMC!"

"Contact 'em!"

"Geronimo! Trap! Danny's gonna relay some rally pacenotes! Listen carefully!"

"Um... Okay... Pierre! Pacenotes!" He showed the notes on the holographic screen. It read:

**"100 long R5/CR"**

I translated it to which Thea listens to and executes (in an authentic Scottish accent): "(In) 100 (meters) long Right (corner severity) 5 over crest." She then executes the notes.

I read more notes. This one read:

**"200 short L3 n.c."**

This translated to again which Thea hears and executes: "200 short left 3, don't cut." Don't cut means don't cut the corner on the apex because there might be an obstruction, like a tree stump we passed.

Now you try reading it. A slash means over, CR means crest, n.c. means no cutting, an exclamation mark means caution, and means tightens. Now, try reading the following notes:

**"100 Short R1 tidy into L2"**

If you still didn't get it, it translated to: "Hundred short right 1 tidy into left 2." She and the others executed the corners. "Tidy" means don't hang it out. Keep the car clean in the center of the road through the next section. It could be because of little drainage walls or more obstacles on either or both sides. In our case, two boulders. I read more pacenotes:

**"300 ! Jump"**

Translates to: "300 double caution jump." We went over the jump seconds later, leaving a trail of dust behind as we landed.

More notes that read:

**"1000 long easy L2/CR kick into R3"**

I translated it to: "Thousand long easy left 2 over crest, kick into right 3 tightens."

After a few minutes driving and a few more pacenotes read, we almost made it to the asphalt. The last pieces of pacenotes I read to Thea were: "100 L2/ bridge, narrows slightly." 'Narrows' mean that the road is narrowing. And: "Flat (straight), double caution jump, widens." 'Widens' mean the road is widening.

Finally we saw the end of the forest at the final stretch. I summarized and finished with: "Long left 1 flat, and finish."

"Thanks for the navigation Danny, I really needed that," she thanked after going through the short rally stage.

"No prob," I switched back to my American.

We drove on the asphalt as soon as the tires stepped on it, screeching them as Pierre and the rest landed after going over a crest. The other cars that weren't involve in Operation The Run split up and went to continue their journey to their respective jackspots. As for us that were, the cars switched to sport mode and went straight for Interpol Washington...at high speed. (It was definitely an emergency, to avoid anymore possible threats.)

We decided to take the highway to the HQ. So when we got to the underpass from where we came, we took the on ramp and sped through mild traffic, scrambling ourselves on the road, switching lanes without the turn signals and drifting at turns.

"Autopilot on," Thea squeaked. Pierre takes over and she took her paws off the wheel, fluttering her fingers as she looked around as if she was trying to figure something out. "Um, how do you summon the holo screen?" she asked.

I began by pinching all my fingers to form a duckbill and spread them out anywhere in front of the dashboard. After the Springboard revealed, I pushed the screen to her, hovering over her lap. As the wheel behind the projection spun left and right, Thea 'touches' the Facebook icon (her finger went through actually). She then logs in to her account. 'What is she doing?' I thought. She then 'touches' the chat icon and scrolls down and up for a specific friend in the list. She stopped when she found one of her friends that was online, named Paulina. She 'taps' on it, opening up the chat bubble.

"If you wanna start a video call, the camera is hidden in the tachometer needle's point of origin," I informed.

She then 'taps' on the video call icon, opening a little window within the app. All she had to do know was to wait for this 'Paulina' to pick up.

Paulina responds a few short moments later. "Hi girls!" Thea started, looking into the tachometer.

"Hi Thea!" A group of of girls greeted back. I peered at the screen to look who they were. A group of five female mice, surrounding the laptop (at least that what it appeared to be, judging from what was the call connected from). Paulina was the mouse at the middle. She had grey fur, long and braided black hair and wore an orange dress.

"It been a while since we've seen you. How are you?" squeaked the mouse with the Australian accent.

"I'm just fine here, Nicky."

I interrupted and made the throat slashing gesture. "Cut to the chase, Thea," I whispered.

Thea continued as Pierre drifts through a tight left. "Oh, right," she turns back to the girls. "Listen girls, it's time to put your training to the test. I'm on another assignment and I need you're help."

"You really think that we're ready?" asked the mouse with almond-shaped eyes.

"I don't think, I _know_."

"What do you want us to do then?" asked Paulina.

"I need you to become security escorts for a person, very much a teenager under my protective custody."

"Who is it?" wondered the mouse in pink with a French accent.

"You'd be surprised but, he's junior tech expert, inventor and video game developer, Danial Arif."

"Slash my tire with a cheeseknife! Are you for real?" said the brown-furred mouse.

"Danny, come say hello," she cued me.

I leaned my head in front of Thea's snout. "'Sup gals!"

The Thea Sisters shrieked. Like shallow celebrity gossipers. "Hi Danny!" they greeted back, waving their paws.

"Thea told me that you guys are the perfect mice for the job. I hope you guys are as trustworthy as she said you guys are."

"You can count on us. We won't let you down," Paulina reassured.

I turned to Thea. "I knew I'd never make a mistake when you recommended them to me, Thea!"

"Where do we meet?" the French mouse questioned.

"Fly to Dulles International ASAP and we'll rendezvous at Interpol Washington as soon as you land.

"Okay then, we'll see you guys at DC!" Paulina promised with a smile. "By the way, where are you now, anyway?"

"We're inside one of Danny's Bugatti Veyrons, speeding at a highway through traffic to HQ."

"Ooo...kay... See you there!" Her last squeaks before she terminated the call.

She then logs out her Facebook account and pushes the screen back to me, returning her paws back to the steering wheel to deactivate autopilot.

I pinched my five fingers and then the screen shrinks out of sight. "They look kinda cute..." I commented.

She shot me with an awkward look. "Danny, I can't believe that your going all Tony Stark!"

"What are you insinuating?" I said with a raised eyebrow. She kept quiet, until I finally got the idea. "No, Thea, I am NOT a playboy, OK?"

She veered to the right, avoiding a semi truck. "I didn't say that..."

"It sounded like you were."

We then heard sirens from behind us. It was a group of three Metro PD Ford Crown Victorias, attempting to pull our convoy over. "Pull your vehicles over to the side of the road, NOW!" ordered one of the drivers in the police cars.

"We've got a problem, team," announced Geronimo through the comlink. "One of the civilian drivers have reported and claimed that we were street racing over 911. We can't take the chance of being pulled over and letting this leak into the media."

"Okay, different plan! We'll shake them in the city. If we split up, we'll rendezvous at HQ after losing 'em," I said. "Alright... Thea, take the next intersection to Downtown DC."

"Easier said than done, Danny," Thea said.

Geronimo interrupts. "Good thing I renewed my expired license a month ago, didn't I, Thea?"

"Driving with Solar surely did help you past the driving test. Good thing that she was just like me, huh?"

"Yeah..." I think they both were referring about Geronimo's recently published book, 'Get Into Gear, Stilton!'. I never knew that Prof Von Volt could create such a car!

* * *

**Meanwhile on Whale Island...**

"Awesome! We get to go on another adventure!" said Pamela.

"But to get to DC, we've gotta get off the island back to Mouse Island then fly out from Angorat International," said Paulina, shutting down her MacBook.

"And the current way off the island is..."

"No! Not Vince Guymouse again!" complained Colette. "He's so irritating..."

"And the way he pilots the plane... Even an unlicensed bloke can fly better than him!" Nicky compared, feeling cheesed.

"Girls! Hold on! We've got three options on how to get off Whale Island," suggested Violet. "One, we fly out with Vince's hydroplane, which no one will never agree to..."

"Exactly," agreed Colette, interrupting her.

"Two, Professor de Mousus had arranged a new hydrofoil service to and fro..."

She was cut off again, this time, by Pamela. "It's too late for that. The last hydrofoil left for New Mouse City last evening. It'll be expected to come back in another two days."

"Or three, by sailing on Thea's yacht that she just bought, which she left behind when she left for her new Interpol assignment in the Metamouse."

Everyone thought of option three for a while. "Hmm... It'll only take a mere six hours from here to NMC Harbor, and the yacht does appear to fit all of us and our luggage. I think we just found our way out of here!" exclaimed Nicky with an idea.

"All in favor of leaving on Thea's yacht say 'aye'!" said Pamela.

Nicky agreed. "Aye!"

Violet raised her paw. "Aye!"

Paulina did the same. "Aye!"

Colette had something to ask. "I...have a question. Do we have a limit for the luggage count?"

"Considering the mediocre size of the yacht, I say we do," Pamela answered. "We can only bring one bag of luggage per mouse."

"So, uh...Colette..." Nicky chuckled. "You might need to pack light and leave those chests full of clothes behind." Colette crossed her arms and looked away in disagreement, letting out a little 'humph'.

"It's settled then! We'll get permission from the Headmaster to leave the island. Before that, let's start packing!" announced Paulina.

"And when do we leave?" asked Colette.

"Right after we pack, she did say ASAP, right?" answered Violet.

They got packing, they stuffed their bags with every necessary piece of clothing they had. The Thea Sisters packed light as mentioned, except for Colette who packed an extra-large duffle bag with clothes for every occasion, not to mention the makeup. Either home, or combat.

They left their dorms with their bags and marched towards Professor De Mousus' office. He flung the door open when Paulina knocked, and let them in. They told him the purpose of their visit and asked for his approval to leave the island over tea and cheese cracker sandwiches. He permitted their request and the mouslets thanked him for that. The Headmaster told them to send his regards to Thea when they meet with her.

The girls scampered their way to the harbor and saw Thea's yacht at one of the piers, tied to a short post.

"Does anyone here know how to sail a yacht?" Colette asked, looking at the others.

"I do," said Nicky, raising her paw. "You girls just relax in the hull while I navigate us through the sea."

"Hold on, I have to check the weather forecast for today," Paulina halted, taking out her iPhone. She then asks Siri for the weather. "What's the weather like today, Siri?"

Siri's computerized voice answered: "It will be sunny all day, with a chance of slight breezes. It's currently 85 degrees Farenheit, with the highest at 92 degrees."

Paulina turns back to her friends. "We're good to go!"

"Let's sail!" Announced Pamela enthusiastically.

They boarded the yacht, Nicky climbed the ladder up to the controls while the rest put their luggage in the room inside the hull. Then they went back out to enjoy the open-sea air when they leave.

Nicky tuns on the controls and navigation equipment on the dashboard and starts the motor. She then begins a system's check. "Compass, check. Radar, check. GPS, working. Sonar, functional. Passengers, aboard. We're set!" She then pushes the accelerator lever slowly to avoid anyone from jolting backwards, throwing them overboard. In a few hours later, they we're already halfway across the Ratlantic Ocean.

* * *

**Meanwhile at Downtown Washington, DC...**

We were already at the city, all 16 of us. Surrounded by heavy traffic and tall buildings. As we reached Downtown, more cop cars appeared from crossroads and junctions. Before I even knew it, we were engaged in a heated hot pursuit.

"Slide, glide and snake through traffic. The cops driving skills are not as matching to ours. Plus, the distractions when they copy the moves will slow them down," I commanded.

The convoy zigzagged passed past cars, ran through red lights and stop signs and even commandeered perfectly in the road with the opposite flow of traffic. That wasn't done intentionally, and I advise you NOT to do what you read right now. Well, maybe in some cases like later but, do it on your own risk.

Unfortunately, the tactic didn't work. Metro PD Crown Vic's managed to copy our moves exactly how we did and were still hot on our tails. Plus, the amount of traffic slowed us down. "I think you maybe have underestimated them," Thea said, swerving to the right as she almost hit a civilian Buick Regal.

"Different tactic! We'll scatter all over the city, using pursuit tech and non-projectile weapons to help evade the cops. Recommended to let the passengers to become your weapon operators," I said. "Take the next crossroad to split up. Once we've lost the cops, we'll rendezvous back at the HQ."

"Question! How do we operate the weapons?" asked Benjamin.

"Colette will give you a tutorial on how to operate her weapons systems. Same goes to Anton, Pandora!" We came close to approaching the crossroad. "Alright, we split...NOW!"

Thea and I drifted left, Trap and Pandora veered right, Geronimo and Benjamin went straight. As for the autonomous cars, Diane, the CCXs and CCXRs also went straight, the three Ageras followed me and Thea while the other two tailed Anton.

Me, Thea and the Ageras gave everything we had at the five Metro PD cars that chased us, this time, five Dodge Chargers without the police livery. I activated Pierre's EMP and locked on. I EMP-ed two PCs (police cars), Phantom dropped a few hundred tiny caltrops on the road and disabled one more, Banshee released an electric bolt that electrified the road behind her, making it heat up and popping the tires of the two other PCs, immobilizing them. "We got the cops off our back! What's your progress, Geronimo? Trap?" I asked.

"Having a little trouble here," Geronimo reported in, handbraking, then redlining Colette to dodge a civilian Chevrolet Silverado. "We just uh...deployed the spikes and and it's just staying in its box form!"

"Who's behind you guys?"

"Uh..." I assumed that he was looking in his rear views. "Diane, a few of the Ghosts and a dozen Metro PD Dodge Chargers."

How much distance are you with them?" I asked.

"Your cars or the PCs?"

"The PCs!"

He paused, hearing the squeal of tires and redlining as he downshifted. "Five seconds, about half a kilometer."

"They should extend...NOW!" I watched the rear view camera feed of Colette from Pierre's holo screen in anxiety. I zoomed in, watching the spikes flatten most the PCs' tires, while the others stopped just by half an inch. "Yes!" I exclaimed victoriously. "Now go find somewhere to hide and lay low. You keep staying out in the open like this, you'll raise more heat."

"An electromagnetic invisibility screen would be helpful right now..."

"One disadvantage, G. We can see people, but people can't see us." Another reference to his book, the Prof's car, Solar, can turn invisible using the method as mentioned. I turned to Thea. "Thea, I think it's time for us to disappear too."

She drifts into a street, backfiring from shifting down. "I was just about to do that..." Her keen eyes saw an alleyway. She pulls a 180 degree spin, with the back of Pierre going inside. She shifts into reverse, going deeper into it. She shuts the engine down after stopping, then turned of the headlights.

I asked everyone for a status report. "Sit rep, guys. I need to know what's going on. Thea and I just escaped the cops, along with the Ageras. Geronimo, what's your 20?"

"We're in a multilevel car park, with the Ghosts along with us."

"Trap?"

"Struggling!" he reported harshly. I heard and assumed that he pulled a 180 spin, going in reverse right after. "Pandora! Caltrops!" I heard a beep, which meant that she pressed the 'deploy' button. Another series of tire squeals were heard, and more redlining. Trap had done another 180 spin, driving forwards. "The cops are gone, I'm going into another street, and...I just bumped into a multilevel parking garage. I'm laying low here." He climbs to the second level. "Oh, hey G!" They were in the same hiding spot.

"Ghosts! You guys are cooling down?"

"Yes, sir. Most of us are in the alleys," Phantom replied.

"Alright Bugattis, Ghosts. Time to change skins." By changing skins, I meant change paint jobs.

Pierre swapped paint jobs the black and silver paint with black and silver wheels. Everything just swiped and replaced with the new one.

Thea peered her head over the dashboard to see what happened. "Whoa..." She gasped with astonishment.

"Impressive," Geronimo praised as Colette put on her white and light blue Special Edition colors.

"Cheddariffic!" Benjamin commented.

"Coooool!" Pandora and Trap said simultaneously as Anton switches to his solid white and black livery.

"Now someone tell me that this isn't as cool as the car that the Professor built," I bragged, referring to Solar.

"I have to say that I'm impressed by your cars technology," commented Geronimo. "Though it doesn't have a mini library for sudden brainstorms like Sol..." Colette projects the holo screen and shows her collection of e-books. Then, she pops out a physical keyboard out of the roof of the glove box. "I stand corrected, maybe you are slightly better than Sol, Colette. But I couldn't say that in front of her, she'd be jealous."

It took a few seconds for the paint jobs to apply. Once they've finished, it was time for the change of license plates. They were actually screens that let the cars change their registration numbers if they become wanted by law enforcement.

Pierre: '2FAST4U',

Colette: 'CANTTOUCHDIS'

Anton: 'H8RSGONH8'

Diane: 'ND4SPD'

"We're cooled down, move out and we'll meet at the rendezvous point," I ordered. "But be careful, cops are still packing up heat."

Thea started up Pierre and drove out the alley. After we saw three Metro PD cars speeding past us with their sirens on when we were about to make the turn, Thea used her turn signals and abided the laws of the road on our way to HQ.

* * *

**Interpol Washington**

**1.25 p.m.**

We've arrived without attracting anymore cop cars and parked the convoy vehicles in the underground garage.

We decided to hang out at the lab to talk about Operation The Run in private.

Geronimo jut got off the phone. "You have called the Thea Sisters?" Geronimo asked his sister.

Thea was sitting on a chair next to the milkshake dispenser. "Yup, they said they'll do it. They're on their way here."

"Chedarrific! The Secretary General has approved my requests. But one teensy detail, because he had kept the Operation between him and the ones involved, he didn't inform the US's Department of Justice to not look for our cars."

"This basically means that we're wanted fugitives? And we're on our own?" I asked to reconfirm.

"At least your cars are. Thanks to their tinted glass, the cops never saw us riding in them."

"Good to know...I think..."

"So, uh...we're crashing here until the Thea Sisters get here?" Benjamin asked.

"Yup," Thea answered. "After all, is did tell them to meet up here."

**16 hours later...**

**Friday, August 24, 2013, 5.12 a.m.**

As I was dreaming about how Operation The Run was going so well, arriving at the base while in the state of being alive and well, the sound of Thea's caller ringtone playing the song 'Call Me Maybe' woke me up. In fact, it woke up everyone in the lab.

She picked it up and answered in a sleepy voice. "Hello?...yawn...Paulina? You and the Sisters are here? OK, OK, Danial's gonna send three cars to pick you girls up. Wait at the pick-up area. They'll be there in about twenty minutes or less. Alright, bye." She turned to me, who was fully awake. "Danny, I need you to send three cars to Dulles International. The Thea Sisters are here!"

I touched my right temple. "Alright... Banshee, Phantom and Ghoul, I want you guys to pick up some people at Dulles International. I'll send you their info."

"Ten-Four," they all obeyed with their almost human, computerized voice.

They moved out of the parking garage and sped their way to the airport.

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

**Washington Dulles International Airport**

**5.30 a.m.**

Paulina calls Thea on her iPhone again after ALMOST twenty minutes of waiting. "Hello, Thea? Yeah, we've been waiting for a while and the cars are still not showing up!"

"Has it been twenty minutes yet?" she replied.

She checked her watch. "Uh...no?"

"Then wait, they'll be there."

The Thea Sisters and the rest of the airport bystanders then heard loud sounds engines being revved up, echoing off the airport terminal. They peered while standing on their toes. The sight of the three Ghosts driving slowly and stylishly along the terminal road was capturing attention from everyone, murmuring as they drove by. Their presence was accompanied by the twilight of the rising sun in the horizon. And to keep the showing-off atmosphere alive, they've synced their media players to play Chamillionaire's 'Ridin' Dirty' on their external speakers.

Pamela recognized the cars immediately and gasped. "Are those KOENIGSEGGS?"

Paulina returned her phone to her ear. "Uh...Thea? Did he just sent us Koenigseggs?" she asked, sounding unsure.

"Yup. See? I told you they'd be there..."

The Ghosts closed in on them. "Are you sure they can seat us all?"

"They're autonomous smart vehicle, they don't need drivers."

The three cars parked right in front of them at the pickup zone, synchronized with the music timing. As they stopped and parked, the chorus of the song played.

"Are these the cars that Thea was talking about?" Colette asked, looking over Paulina's shoulder.

"That's what she said on the phone," said Peruvian mouselet.

Upon hearing that, Pamela reserved Phantom for herself. "I got dibs on the Agera R!"

Violet waltzed along Banshee, admiring her beauty and grace, stroking her as she walked. Pamela just stared at Phantom in amazement. "Have you fallen in love with a car, Pam?" Nicky asked.

"It seems that I have!" she answered.

Paulina looked at Wraith's interior through the window, bending down. She smiled when she saw no driver, feeling impressed.

All of the five went to the doors, trying to figure out how to open them. Pamela knew how, but when she tried she found that it was locked. Then, the side-mirrors of all cars turned their backside facing the mouselets. Then, they acted as facial recognition scanners, and scanned their faces.

Phantom's analysis: "Pamela identified," he said aloud.

Banshee's analysis: "Violet and Colette identified."

Ghoul's analysis: "Nicky and Paulina identified."

Phantom began fading the vocals of the song away and did an intro as the instrumental played along: "Hello, Thea Sisters. I am Phantom, the Koenigsegg Agera R. Behind me respectively are my sister and brother, Banshee and Wraith."

The other two cars greeted them. "Hello, girls."

Phantom continued. "We were sent by our master, Danial Arif, to pick you all up. Please, put your luggage inside our trunks and hop inside us so we can take you all to the rendezvous point." The three Ageras opened their hoods, raised up by hydraulic pistons and revealed their small luggage spaces. Colette looked and felt unsure if her big bag could fit.

"Don't worry Colette, your bag does fit into the space, despite its large size," Banshee reassured, joking at the same time.

Once they put their bags, the three supercars opened their doors for the mouselings. They felt impressed by the way they opened, outward and spun upwards. They're kinda like scissor doors, but with a little difference.

"Ooh-la-la!" Colette commented.

They were already inside. But the next thing to figure out is...

"How do we close these things?" Nicky asked.

"Don't worry Nicky, I will close them for you," offered Ghoul. He closed the doors.

The cars patched in their comlinks together and informed the girls about it. Next, a few settings.

"Would you like some sound insulation inside the cockpit? My V8 engine can be a little noisy at times," offered the Ageras to their passengers.

Nicky and Paulina said: "No thanks, Wraith."

Pamela with: "No way! I wanna listen to the roar of your V8!"

Violet and Colette thought of it for a while. "What do you think Colette? Wanna go for a little V8?" Violet asked. She shook her head.

"Yes please," Violet decided.

"And do buckle up your harness seat belts, some parts of this trip will get quite messy," Phantom advised the mouselets. It took time for them to figure up out how, but they managed to do it eventually.

The cars turned the vocals of the song back on, both inside the cockpit and outside, the second chorus played as they started to drive away slowly, leaving for the rendezvous point. The airport bystanders from the outside just clapped, cheered and applauded while the Thea Sisters past them. Banshee passes a group of college boys near the end of the terminal. She turns the backside of her right side mirrors to them and projected a teasing holographic message that said:

"Don't 'chu wish yo girlfriends were hot like me?"

The two mice inside the cockpit just giggled.

As they reached the end of the terminal, they began to speed away in screeching tires, leaving a burst of backfire at the tailpipe and a trail of tire-tracks along the terminal road.

* * *

**Interpol Washington-Lab**

**20 minutes later, 6.00 a.m. **

I just got out from the hot quarantine shower about a few minutes ago, scrubbing myself with a loofah and nice scented herbal soap and brushed my teeth with some minty toothpaste. That quarantine shower was all they had for me to freshen up, so don't judge.

I was combing my hair in front of a mirror in the break room after putting on my fresh second top. That's when Pandora stuck her snout inside the room. "Danny, they're here!" she informed.

"In the lab?" I asked. I worried because if they were, there goes my big welcome plan.

"Not here, in the garage. Meet me there." She left, and there was still time for me to style my hair.

After I did that, I swiped the drop-leg holster that I bought from Malaysia from Pandora's desk (you still remember about it, right?) and tied the laces on my thighs. Next, I nabbed the USP45, slid it in the holster and took the HK416 off the desk and made it sling on my shoulder. I was dressed up, geared up, ready for my big entrance for the Thea Sisters', and took the elevator to the underground parking.

I pressed on the 'LG' button, and the doors slid close from the sides. At the same time, I was feeling nervous and excited, tucking my hands in my pockets, asking myself: "I wonder what kind of first impression will they have on me?" Then I found out...

When the elevator stopped and opened its doors.

"There he is," Thea introduced me as the doors slid to the side.

"Hi girls!" I greeted with a wave and smile as I came out.

"Oh my gosh! It's him!" said the French blonde mouse. Despite their feeling when they saw me, they still kept cool and calm, but inside their minds, they were jumping up and down. Their eyes popped out, looking bigger than a meatball. "Hi!" They said, feeling giddy-ish, waving back.

"So Geronimo, we ready to roll?" I asked him as he stood I front of the cars.

"Not yet. We still need to plan our route and get the girls to gear up."

I turned back to the Thea Sisters, marching towards them. "I'm sorry girls, I believe I haven't introduced myself properly. As you all know, I am junior tech expert, software and video game designer, programmer, and developer, Danial Arif. But you can all just call me Danny."

The curled-hair mouse extended her arm. "Pamela. An expert at machinery and a student of Thea's. Call me Pam," she said. I grabbed her paw and shook it heartily.

"It's great to see you, Pam."

"I love your cars, especially the Agera R," she continued, turning to Phantom.

"Ah...Phantom. He told me that you showed interest towards him. You and him will make great traveling buddies." I turned to the next Thea Sister.

. "G'day! The name's Nicky, an Aussie and outdoorsmouse. Call me Nic." She reached her paw out, and I gave it a strong grip and shook it.

I switch to my Australia accent. "G'day to you to, Nic!"

"You have an accent?"

Thea interrupts as she sits on Pierre's hood. "He has many different kinds..."

I continued, letting go of my grip. "Say, you look younger than the others. How old are you?"

She bends down and whispered into my ear. "Don't tell the others, I'm 16*."

I was astonished. She was three years older than me. "Whoa! You're...erm... Ehem..." I signaled her to bend down to me again. This time, I whispered in her ear. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about this, or your little crush on that Hawaiian surfer, Renani, when you all went to Hawaii weeks ago." I was referring to the events of their latest book, 'The Legend Of The Fire Flowers'.

She then backs away upon hearing that, with her cheeks flushing tornado red. "You knew? Who told you?"

"Telepathy..." I replied, showing a proud, raised eyebrow face.

I went to meet the next mouse, which was Paulina. "Paulina. I specialize in computers, and the brains in the group, if I do say so myself. You can call me Polly if you want."

"Computer genius, eh? Then what kind of encryption did the first ever computer virus, the 1260, used?"

"Polymorphic," she ansewered with confidence.

I stroked my chin. "Hmm...you'd make a good programmer for my next software." I moved to the next mouse.

She was calm and quiet, and she reminded me a little of Geronimo. "I'll have to guess, Violet's the name, and green tea is your game..." I began.

Violet recoiled. "How'd you know?"

Nicky steps in to answer. "He claims that he has telepathy...isn't that right, Thea?"

"Every word he says about you is true... Either that or Benjamin told him everything," she answered. Then everyone stared at Benjy.

I walked to the French blonde. "And you must be Colette..."

She cut me off, fanning herself with her paw. "Gasp! You know my name!"

"Thea told me that..." Ignoring why I just said, she just took a heavy breath, and collapsed under the pressure, like a damsel. Luckily, she didn't slam her head onto the ground, because my quick reflexes made me act and caught her in my arms.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed, catching her.

"Colette!" Everyone screamed. We circled around her, checking if she's alright.

"Colette! Are you okay?" Pamela called, trying to wake her up.

"He knows my name..." she whispered as a response, smiling.

I looked at Pamela. "Is she always like this?"

"If a celebrity already knows her name, yes. You must excuse her."

"Ooo...kay... Is there anything I should know more about her?"

Nicky looked over my shoulder. "She's all looks, loves pink, energetic and always full of ideas."

"The only thing bad about her is that she always fashionably late!" Paulina stated.

"And try to call her by her name, she doesn't stand nicknames," Violet informed.

Colette finally regains her consciousness, still feeling doozy about me 'guessing' her name and being right about it in the first try.

Now, it was time to arm them, since they were given temporary gun licenses by Interpol. Thea had their weapons stored in a metal briefcase. "Alright girls, you'll be equipped with a USP45, a drop-leg holster and and seven extra magazines each." Thea threw them the guns that was tucked into their holsters to each of the mice along with the magazines. They tied the laces onto their thighs, then took out their guns, and inspected them.

I strolled back to Thea, who was shutting her briefcase. "Seems like they know what they're doing," I started, looking back and hearing Colette putting in a magazine, cocking the gun after.

"Of course, because I taught them," she bragged, putting away the briefcase.

Then I started something off-topic. "You know, of all the minds I read in this group, everyone's had a crush on or at least being admired by someone. The only ones that don't are only me, you, and Pam."

"Yeah, you're right..." she agreed, looking at her students gearing up.

"Sometimes I wonder, when am I gonna find love?"

"I wonder the same thing... Geronimo's got a crush on Pandora's aunt, Pandora and Benjamin have a crush on each other..."

After every mice and human armed, with their alert, awareness and cautiousness level cranked up to eleven, Geronimo, Thea and I were about to plan the route we were about to take. Until, Geronimo had one last surprise.

"Before we start planning our route, there's someone I'd like all of you to meet," he announced.

We looked at the cargo elevator behind us, just a few yards from us. The place where all the supplies were hauled up, all the ice cubes and snacks for the operation's command room's lounge, the ingredients to make milkshake in Pandora's lab, even the pieces of evidence Pandora processed, was used to transport ten particularly familiar men in black combat suits, each carrying a bag. They dramatically walked out of the elevator in slow motion, making them look like a group of astronauts getting ready to blast off in a rocket to the moon.

They were the Wolf Pack; the team of elite police drivers that escorted us back in Malaysia. I began to wonder: 'What the heck are they all doing here?' Even more intriguing, why was Hussein looking at Pam when he first came out of the elevator? I can calculate a person's point of eyesight, you should know that since I'm a cyborg.

They marched at normal speed. "Sergeant Hussein and the Wolf Pack?" said Thea upon seeing them.

"That's us!" The Sergeant responded, shouting from across the garage.

"It's really great to see you guys again!" I said.

"Explaination, please?" said Thea to her brother.

"Heh...it turns out that they were actually probationary Interpol operatives, working for the police. He and his team got promoted after they successfully completed their mission, which is, escorting us to the airbase," he explained.

The Wolf Pack approached us closer. "So they're with us now?" Thea asked to reconfirm.

"Yup!" the Sergeant interrupted, or at least, Agent. He and his team stopped in front of the Ghosts.

"There's a few extra Koenigseggs that aren't yet reserved or taken, so pick whichever car you want," I proposed, pointing out which cars while walking to them. "Plus, there's one more room in the Agera R, but you'll have to travel with a female mouse who reserved Phantom for herself." I said that to see if mu suspicions were true. Anyway, the nine men marched to the Ghost members of their desire, assisted by the cars themselves by opening the trunks for them.

Sergeant Hussein...erm...Agent Hussein turned facing his team. "Any volunteers to ride with the female mouse?" he offered to them, raising his hand. No one wanted to respond. "Anyone? No one?" He lowered his arm. Before one of his teammates could respond, he cut him off. "Fine, but don't regret on missing out. Note that you just rejected a once-in-a-lifetime offer to ride in an Agera R. C'mon Danny, I wanna meet my traveling buddy." He then turns his back on his team, and walked away. Seemed that he was the one who wanted to ride with Pam.

I walked with him and switched to my Italian accent. "What was dat all about?"

"They were just simply too shy to ride along with another person with the opposite gender. Sorry to say this in front o' you, but I just don't think that they have the balls. Nice accent though."

"Balls? You think dat dis is about havin' balls? Dude, I sit side by side with Thea all the time and we act like siblings!"

"This is different..." I just figured out that he was going to hit on Pam. Seriously? With me by his side?

We stopped. "Alright then, you say that it takes balls? You go talk to her, then. Alone."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Wha-wh-ho-how am I supposed to know which one's her?" I read his mind, he lied. He knew who Pam was, he just wanted me to accompany him.

I pointed my index finger towards Pamela as she chatted with her friends. "You see that mouse with the curly hair? That's her, she fell in love with Phantom and she ain't lettin' him go. You better make a good first impression."

"B-b-but-"

"Go!" I pushed him towards the Thea Sisters, and stayed behind, crossing my arms.

He looked back at me, and I responded with a nod while holding a proud face impression.

Then came the big moment, Colette notices the presence of the young, tall and handsome agent as they were chatting, and then alerts her friend, Pamela.

The beautiful rodent turned around facing the nervous agent. "Hi!" she started, flipping her hair aside, putting on a cheerful smile. Her shiny and sparkling eyes pierced into his, making his heartbeat intensify.

"I...erm...uh..." Hussein stammered, sweating as much as a sprinkler. "Hi...uh...I'm...Agent Kamal Hussein.

"Pamela. Call me Pam."

He looked at her sheepishly. "Listen, Danny...said there's one more room left in the...uh...Agera R. So...I just thought that...maybe we could travel...you know...together. Not that I have anything for you, I just wanted to feel the experience of being in an Agera. But if you don't want to, it's okay-"

Smooth, Hussein. Real smooth.

Pamela then cuts him off, flipping her curled locks again to the side, looking at him with those cute-looking puppy eyes. "Sure..."

Hussein stood there, deadpanned. "Really?"

"Uh-huh," she replied, nodding with another smile. "I could use some company, as long as I'm in the driver's seat."

"Ooo...kay...I'll see you during mission briefing, then."

"'Kay, see ya..." She waved by only moving her fingers, then looked away in a shy manor, blushing.

I overheard the Thea Sisters talking about him as he walked away. "Awkwaaarrrd..." Paulina commented.

"Awkward, but cute!" Pamela responded, facing her friends.

Cute? Colette thinks not. "CUTE? No, he's MORE than that-he's HOT!" She was right, I saw his muscles popped out of his tight suit.

Back to us, Hussein waltzed back to me. "Phew, I'm glad that worked out well," he said, still sweating by the way.

But me? Danny thinks not, Danny _knows_ not.

I just burst into laughter like a wasted mafia, shaking my head, facepalming. "Oh man, you were a hot mess! Oh, you should have seen yourself-hehehehe! Gasp, oh man... Phew..."

"Whaddya mean, 'hot mess'? That was good!"

I finally wanted to make him admit. "You sounded like you were asking for a date."

He snapped. "Did not!"

"Did too! It even sounded like more than just wanting to be her traveling buddy..."

"Fine! I admit it! I like her, OK? Ever since I stepped out of that elevator and saw her beautiful, beautiful face... Don't tell her I said that.

"HAH! I knew it! But seriously. Dude, she's only been in her second year of college. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"

"I can wait, I'm not expecting anyone. Except Pam... Plus I'm only like two years older than her."

"For an adult who has a career in law enforcement, you're really bad at talking to girls. Lemme show ya how a real guy talks...without sounding like what you did." I marched up to Nicky, who was inspecting her .45 caliber handgun. I began and kept speaking in an Italian accent. "Heyya Nic, I just wanted to ask, are you happy with your car? Do ya want me to make some adjustments or anything?"

She sounded nervous in her reply as she holstered the gun. "No thanks, I'm happy riding in Ghoul."

"But 'cha sound nervous. Tell me what's wrong. Is he too flashy? Too loud? Too fast for ya?"

"No, not that. It's just his cockpit, it's too small."

"But you look like you fit perfectly inside, what's da matter wit' dat-" then I finally understood. Ghoul's small cockpit space makes her feel... "Oh, I get it now, you're claustrophobic!" She nodded. So I offered a proposal. "Okay then, maybe you'd settle for Diane, the Bugatti Veyron? She's got more legroom for you to stretch out. And she's not reserved or taken, so she's all yours if you want."

"Thank you, Danny. For understanding."

"Always happy to help. Keys are inside her glovebox."

I slowly went back to the agent, overwhelming myself under a pile of pride. "See? Nailed it like a boss. And you...have been beaten by a 13-year old."

"Show off," he commented in response enviously.

"Alright everyone, huddle up!" Geronimo called, standing in front of Pierre. He caught our attention, and we approached him, especially me because I'm a part of the briefing presentation. "Right now, we're planning what route to take to the secret base. Pierre?" he cued.

From under his badge on the radiator grille was a projector, at that moment, flipped open and projected the map of the USA. Everyone felt very much astounded. "Because of the secret location of the last retreat was blown, we made a decision to relocate. Our destination, almost across America, at the middle of the Nevada desert." The map projection zoomed into Nevada.

"Whoa, that's almost two thousand miles away! Are you sure that we'll be able to make it there ALIVE?" Hussein questioned while sounding doubtful.

"If we believe that we can and avoid every possible threat, then I do believe we can."

"And the route?" Thea asked.

"We'll move through I-80, the interstate that stretches from here, to Nevada itself," answered Geronimo as Pierre highlited the interstate. "We'll pass a few states along the way, and the journey could take about two days, that is if we travel non-stop."

"What formation will we be using?" asked Hussein again.

Pierre projects a top-down view of our cars on a four-lane highway. "No formation needed, we'll drive at high speed and glide through traffic to make our journey time shorter. The only thing specific about this that I want us to drive in positions. Trap and in will lead, followed by Danny and Thea. Then the Thea Sisters behind them, then the Wolf Pack, and the rest of the Ghosts at the back."

"Next is our enemy information," I began, taking over the briefing session. "As we all know, except for the Thea Sisters, The Technolgists are hunting me down for the microchip in my head. It's abilities are so deadly, and they were planning to put it inside a weapon of mass destruction they built. They wanted it to orbit the planet above America, and with the chip inside, it gathers dark matter, or the Force as some people know it as, and will fuse it with the radiation from outer space to create a solar flare-like electromagnetic pulse. They will release it on America, rendering everything that relies on electronics useless. Thus, creating chaos across all over the country."

Paulina raised her paw. "One question, the Force? Isn't that only in Star Wars?" she debated.

"Or is it?" I corrected her. Then I used Telekinesis and picked her up.

"What the? Danny are you doing that?" she asked while floating in mid-air upon seeing me holding a three-fingered hand gesture.

"Yes. As you can all see right now, I'm using Force Telekinesis to lift her in the air," I explained as Paulina maintained to keep herself upward. Then I put her down gently on her paws. "Sorry that I didn't tell you before I did that."

"It's alright," she replied.

I continued. "The initial objective of this chip was to make someone a superhuman that could control anything electronic with only using brainwaves. I can make a random cellphone play a ringtone, which I did to Geronimo's phone," I said as his phone played 'All Of Me'. He shut it down. I continued. "I can generate computer scripts, I can create a computer virus and send it to any computer."

Thea then takes over the briefing session, replacing me. "And now for our enemy details," she started as Pierre projects the image of The Technologists' people. "If we ever make a stop at a gas station and if you see guys in black, all muscular and armed, put everyone on high alert. These are one of the threats that we may face." Pierre then projects the images the enemies vehicles. "Second, if we cruise along the interstate and see any of these black Audis, communicate through the comlinks and inform others of their presence. Those are our enemy's vehicles. And the most dangerous threat that we anticipate is their Black Hawk helicopters. They're armed with Gatling guns and AIM-9 Sidewinders."

Geronimo steps forward and takes over. "And finally before we move out, a little pep talk for all of us." He stood up straight and shot everyone with a serious look. "I just wanted to say that whatever happens, do NOT let Danny fall into their hands, either alive or dead. Note that if we fail, the world could fall apart. It's all in our paws and hands to save it from plunging into total destruction."

Then I thought of something that could boost our fighting spirit. "Alright, everybody give me a loud 'Hoorah' for team spirit. On my one, three, two, one..."

"HOORAH!" Everyone shouted. The sounds of our voices bounced off the walls.

"Operation The Run is a go," Geronimo announced.

We got to our cars, started the V8s and W16s and pulled out of the garage, being cautious at the same time because there might be Metro PD cruisers around the area, trying to catch us ridin' dirty. The camouflage screens needed to cool down after the extensive use in yesterday's chase so they switched back to their original paint jobs. Except for the plates, they stayed. We made it to I-80 a half an hour later without being detected, as sneaky as a mouse.

* * *

**An hour after the beginning of Operation The Run**

**Day 1**

**I-80, Indiana County, Pennsylvania, 0649 hours**

Geronimo decided to record log entries of Operation The Run's progress and send them to the Secretary General. He asked us to assist him or anyone that makes a log entry to correct or give more details to be recorded. He also scheduled for us to record one entry every six hours or in every important incident or event. So I told them that cameras were hidden in the dashboard and physical tachometer in every car. Just to make the SG sure that we were still alive.

**LOG ENTRY #1**

_Geronimo: Log entry number one, by Geronimo Stilton. Time, oh-six hundred forty-nine hours. Location, Interstate 80, south of Indiana County, Pennsylvania. Speed, 125 miles an hour...more or less. It's been almost an hour of driving...(cuts pass a car to the left)...after we left for the destination. We stopped for some food half an hour ago and for a bathroom break at a gas station. The weather is sunny with the atmosphere cold, I had to turn on the heater to avoid hypothermia during the ops. (Veering to the left avoiding a pickup truck) Traffic is not that heavy-_

_Thea: Not that heavy? Geronimo, it's like I have to pass a car after another! (Chicanes past two cars) I almost ground the passenger window with a left side mirror that time!_

_Geronimo: Fine, they're in large numbers because most people are out of their homes and on their way to work. Despite that, we're still able to maintain the speed by overtaking the cars like I did a moment ago. And along the trip so far, there has been NO fatal incidents or dangers. That's all I have to report for now. This is Geronimo Stilton...(nearly misses the rear bumper of a hatchback)...over and out._

**LOG ENTRY #2**

**I-80, Wood County, Ohio, 1050 hours**

_Thea (with an anxious voice): Log entry number two. Time: ten hundred fifty hours. Location: Wood, Ohio, still Interstate 80. Speed: 150 miles an hour. We just escaped a hot pursuit with cop cars from three counties: Huron, Seneca, and Wood just seconds ago. I can still hear the sirens in the distance. The chase was initiated when the car's radio scanners were heard picking up transmissions from police dispatch informing officers in the Interstate area of a 911 call made to report us. The civilian who made the report must've recognized us from Metro PD's APB they put out. It took a while for us to escape, the cars were hogging the roads and slowed us down. For that, we were forced to overtake in the emergency lane. Just now, when the road was clear, we just floored it and left them in the dust. Nothing else happened before that, and so, this is Thea Stilton, signing out. How'd I do, Danny?_

_Danny: Flawless..._

**LOG ENTRY #3**

**I-80, Newton County, Indiana, entering Illinois, 1940 hours**

_Hussein: Hello? Is this thing on? (Cracking sounds from him blowing into mic)_

_Pamela: I think it's on, Hussein._

_Hussein: How can you tell?_

_Pamela: The red button you pressed is flashing and the screen is showing that the wavy lines are moving. _

_Hussein: I don't know, it seems like its not recording-_

_Hussein's Teammate #1: Oh for the love of-would you just get on with it already?_

_Hussein: Alright! Alright! Sheesh... This is Kamal Hussein, recording log entry number four. Time: nineteen hundred forty hours. Location: north of Newton County, Indiana. Speed: 126 miles an hour. We just resumed our road trip after a short rest at a truck stop, had a bathroom break, bought some more food and changed clothes that we brought in our overnight bags. The sun is about to set, and we are enjoying the beautiful twilight as we drive. The roads are clear with just a car or two, and it surprises me that Pam here knows how to drive really well. She's been piloting the Agera for six hours straight while I just sit next to her, admiring her skills..._

_Pamela: Oh, stop it, you! You're making me blush!_

_Hussein: Heheh... Anyway, we're near the state border and about to cross it into Cook, Illinois. And there's the 'Welcome to Illinois' sign...(drives past the sign)...and now we're in Illinois. As always, there's been no signs of danger so far, but we'll keep our eyes open. Is there...uh...anything else anyone would like to add?_

_Danny: We're all good here..._

_Hussein: Okay... I guess that's all I have to report for now. This is Agent Kamal Hussein, signing out._

**LOG ENTRY #4**

**Day 2, Saturday, August 25, 2013**

**I-80, Shelby, Iowa, 0014 hours **

_Danny ('I'm Never Gonna Dance Again playing in background): Log entry number four, recorded by Danial Arif. Time: double zero fourteen hours. Location: Shelby, Iowa. Speed: constant at 130 miles an hour. Nothing's pretty much happening around here. We stopped at Iowa 80 a few hours ago for a potty break, got back on track half an hour later. The interstate is empty with almost no cars on the road, because most people in the county are at home, asleep. And speaking of sleep, I turned on the neons I installed in the interior's upholstery, and now everyone's pretty much asleep, including Thea. The drivers who are resting activated the autopilot function as they rejuvenate. The only ones awake right now are me, Nicky, and Pam the last I checked. The two girls may have already fallen into a slumber, but I'll check just in case. Pam! Nic! Are you girls there? Are you awake?_

_Nicky (in a tired and sleepy voice): I'm still up...yawn...though I'm feeling really drowsy. _

_Pamela: I'm up too...maybe for another couple of hours. _

_Danny: There you have it, they're still awake. Anyway, like the last three recordings, there's been no threats so far, so we'll be alright. This is Danial Arif, saying goodnight, and signing out. I'm never gonna dance again..._

**LOG ENTRY #5**

**I-80, Lincoln County, Nebraska, 0602 hours**

_Pandora: Log entry number five, recorded by Pandora Woz at oh-six hundred two hours. Location: Lincoln County, Nebraska. Speed: 125 miles an hour. Just recently, about a few minutes ago, we stopped a robbery in progress while we were taking a break to stretch out. G, tell us the details. _

_Geronimo: Indeed. I was in the convenience store buying a bottle of mineral water while the others stretched out and went to change clothes in the bathroom. When the cashier announced the price when I went to pay, which was $91.10, I was really dumbfounded. But what he was trying to tell me was when he covered up the zero on the register, showing 911. I then figured out what he tried to say: get help. He signaled that the robber was hiding under the counter. I showed him my sheild, and tried to pull out my gun...when an accomplice stalked me from behind and held me at gunpoint, directly aiming at my head. _

_Hussein (driving): I saw the crime in progress when I got out of the restroom after changing clothes. Everyone outside was acting all weird and anxious while looking at the convenience store. So I peered through the window, seeing Geronimo being taken hostage. That was my time to act. I rushed to my car to grab my Bushmaster ACR from under the passenger seat. Then I rushed back, entering the store stealthily. Then I held the criminal at gunpoint, ordering him to stand down. He instead swung his gun at me, luckily dodging it. Distracted, the felon was sweep-kicked down to the ground, getting cuffed right after. Out of nowhere, another robber came up from behind the counter, about to shoot. I was quickly aware, aimed at him and planted three rounds inside his abdomen. _

_Pandora: There you go, Mr. Secretary General. There were no incidents after that, so I have to say that that's all we have to report for now. I'm Pandora Woz, signing out. _

* * *

The Gas Station Dilemma

It was 5.45 in the morning, the sun was up, the sunlight that shone over us stimulated the bionic retinas in my eyeballs that starved light for the past six hours. I was up all night, discussing with my co-developers of my video game, Fields Of Battle 2, over Facebook. This time, through a secure connection. I was finally done when it was 5 a.m., and played some Grand Theft Auto IV. Then I really had to go use 'it', so I had Pierre to locate the nearest gas station along the highway. Which was, for another two and a half miles.

I can tell that the newborn sun was effectively making Thea awake, telling by the way she made her her fair purple eyelids shut even tighter until she frowned, as the rays shone onto her snout. Though she refused to and resisted the urge to wake up, she let out slow and tired groan, rolling ahead of her squeaks as she spoke sotto voce, "Who turned on the sun?" She gently rubbed her barely-opened eyes, yawning. (She was just like her brother, not much of a morning mouse.)

"Good morning, sunshine," I responded, listening to the intro of Green Day's '21 Guns' as I stared at the road.

She scratched her head furry head. "What time is it?"

"It's three quarters past five in the morning," I answered, looking at the analogue clock on the middle console.

The stereo filled the cockpit with more lyrics of the song, replacing the silence. "I had the strangest dream."

"What was it about?"

She explained quickly and briefly. "Let me start from the beginning. We were at a restaurant, no, a pizza parlor somewhere in New Mouse City. We were talking, talking, talking... Then the waiter came to take our order. He didn't look like a mouse, in fact, he was human! A grown man! I looked at his face, then I tried recalling where have I seen him before. Then when you looked at him to order up, you recoiled, stood up and froze, looking at him in confusion. He stared at you and you stared back, then he said, 'Hi, son.' Then I saw the sparkle in your eyes, tears. They flowed down your face, then you looked on the floor and said, 'Three years...you've abandoned me for three whole years and then you just show up out of nowhere and say 'hi'?' I still didn't get why you said it until you continued while looking back at him, 'Where have you been all this time...dad?'"

I could tell that this was some kind of sign. I frowned and gazed blankly at the dashboard, wondering.

Before I could even respond, Pierre cut in on us and told where the next gas station was. "In four hundred yards, turn right." Thea readjusted the way she was sitting, put her hind paws on the gas and returned her forepaws on the wheel, disabling the autopilot.

We were reaching the gas station, Thea let her paw off of the gas pedal, and readied it on the brakes. By then, everyone was awake. I heard them groan, yawn and asking about the time. In about ten seconds later, Thea slowly kicked the brakes as Pierre entered the gas station area. The other cars followed, and Thea parked the Bugatti near the restrooms, slightly jolting our heads forward as we came to a halt.

Every man and mouse stepped out of their respective vehicles, stretching out and some going to the restrooms to change cloths and or use the bathroom. As I cracked my knuckles and leaning forward, I saw a car, a black '69 Pontiac GTO, near the convenience store. There was a driver in a black hoodie, aging about early 20s, but he seemed to be waiting for someone or something. I felt that something was wrong. But alas... I ignored it and jogged straight for the men's room.

Meanwhile, Benjamin complained that we was thirsty. "Man, I'm thirsty."

"Do we still have water inside the car?" his uncle wondered.

"There's none left. We finished our last bottle last night," Benjamin replied with a shrug.

"Stay put. I'll go get some from the convenience store." Benjamin hoped back inside Colette and shut the door, while Geronimo scampered to the store to buy a bottle of water.

He strolled to the back of the store when he was inside, grabbing the see-through fridge's handle and flung the door open, nabbing the neck of the first bottle he saw from the rack. He then ambled his way to the counter to pay for the cold drink, and took out his wallet.

"That'll be ninety-one ten," said the male cashier, looking edgy and trembling as he announced the price.

He was dumbfounded. "Ridiculous!" he objected, feeling exasperated. "Ninety-one dollars? For a large bottle of mineral water?" What he didn't know from the price was a message. The mid-20s cashier covered the 'zero' on the display of the register with his finger, making more sense as it only displayed: 911. He figured out what he was trying to tell the Interpol agent...

Get help.

He knew that there was something wrong, by the way the shaken man in the Shell uniform signaled his finger downwards, saying that there's someone under the counter. "Oh you've got to be kidding me," he responded, acting natural to not alarm the felon. He showed his badge that was tucked under the jacket of his black suit and put a finger on his lips, signaling him to keep quiet. Then, he took out his gun.

Or at least tried to.

He heard a clicking sound near his ear, almost sounding like a guns hammer being thumbed down, and froze upon that. He turned his head slowly, canceling the decision to un-holster his SIG. He heard a scratchy voice saying, "Hands up, and don't try to do anything funny." He finished turning around with his hands up, seeing the muzzle of a Beretta 92 pointed directly at his snout by the man waiting in the '69 GTO. He was an accomplice.

Geronimo put a smirk. Then the sound of a priming rifle came from behind the crook. "Put it down, son," ordered a familiar voice in an American accent.

It was Agent Hussein, aiming his desert-tanned Bushmaster ACR to the head of the crook, wearing casual. "We don't want any bloodshed happening around here, so why don't you just be cool and put the Beretta down?"

Unexpectedly, the crook disobeyed the orders and swung his gun into Hussein's face. Thanks to his ninja-like reflexes, he dodged the attack by leaning back. Distracted, Geronimo sweeped-kicked the crook while he was caught off-guard, making him fall hard on the ground.

Then what came out of under the counter was really something they didn't bargain for. The second crook pushed the cashier away, making him fall and pointed his M1911 pistol on either law enforcement agents. Luckily, Hussein's reflexes once again saved him by telling him to pull the trigger, firing three rounds into his abdomen.

Geronimo was still cuffing up the first crook, struggling with his hands as he squirmed to get free. "You...are under arrest, for armed robbery!" He finished cuffing the felon, and made him sit down, cross-legged. Sirens in the horizon were heard, emitting from Lincoln County police cars, entering the premises of the gas station. Looked like the bystanders that were here after us called them when they saw the robbery in progress.

"We gotta move, NOW!" Hussein suggested harshly, running out the store. Geronimo even took the time to leave a sum of cash on the counter and grabbed the bottle of cold mineral water from the counter, running out after.

The others and I were aware of the fuzz's presence and dashed into the cars, waiting for Hussein and Geronimo. They were seen rushing out of the store, with Geronimo holding a bottle of water. Hussein got into Phantom's passengers seat and pulled the door shut. Geronimo slid over Colette's hood and jumped into her driver's seat. We reversed out of the scene. Geronimo couldn't even closed the door before Colette started reversing hurriedly. We took off while applying nitrous to make a fast escape, but that did no good for the Ghosts because it only spun their rear wheels. Soon, we were back on track to make up for the lost time.

"That was close! They missed us by a whisker," Thea summarized.

"You don't have whiskers, Thea," I emphasized.

"I know, just making an expression."

* * *

**Nye County, Nevada, 1525 hours**

Nevada. Felt to me like the hottest state in the US. The sun was blazing, no trees or clouds around, just miles and miles of sand, stone, and cacti. As we drove on the loneliest highway on Earth, I felt the heated light from the desert sun burn my skin. For that, I turned on the dark window tints to prevent skin irritation.

We came across a gas station a few hundred miles later. We stopped to buy more food, and to use the bathroom.

We parked our cars on one spot, which was near the restrooms, as the gas station was really large and was able to accommodate all our vehicles.

I got out of Pierre after Thea applied the handbrake, stretched out, letting out a relieved 'argh'. "Argh! Me achin' back..." I said with my authentic Scottish accent. "I'll be in the bathroom, emptying me bladder if you need me."

I wended my way to the restrooms with Hussein and Benjamin while the rest either stayed behind our went to buy food at the convenience store.

* * *

"Phew! That was relieving," I shouted once we stepped out of the men's room.

"But now, I'm feeling kinda hungry," Benjamin complained.

"Me too," Hussein agreed.

"Same goes for me," I added.

"Wanna go get some grub?" Hussein suggested. My mouth was already watering from seeing the food inside the store.

"Sounds perfect!" Benjamin and I replied simultaneously.

* * *

**Thea's Perspective**

I gazed at the three, scampering into the store as I took a bite from my chicken ham and cheese sandwich inside Pierre. Then at the precise moment when they stepped in through the glass doors, a convoy of 16 Audis, all of them painted in metallic black, drove into the other side if the gas station. Technically speaking, there were at least four RS6, four RS7, four S8s, and four R8s. To make matters worse, they were packed with people. Four in every sedan, two in every coupe. I know we were in big, no, HUGE trouble.

I swallowed my chewed food ahead of my words, saying, "Cheesballs!" I was stunned, but I was NOT panicking. I acted fast and called Danny. "Pierre! Contact Danny!"

"Yes Agent Stilton," he replied. He patched his comlink signal with Danny's chip.

I alerted him and the others, looking at them through the glass. "Danny, enemy alert! GET OUT OF THERE THROUGH THE BACK DOOR, NOW!"

* * *

**My Perspective**

I saw them when Thea alerted me. "Oh, shoot!" I whispered, ducking under the counter with the others for cover.

"Where are we supposed to go?" asked Benjamin.

"The back door. C'mon, hide behind the shelves," I answered, starting to move towards the rear exit.

We made it out of the building, going around the scums. Just when we were about to make our escape, at the worst moment possible, one of the enemies came out of the loo from behind us and spotted us.

"S-!" Exclaimed Hussein, as we made a left and started running.

We rushed and jumped into our cars. Literally. "Pierre! Sunroof!" He opened it and left a gaping hole on the roof. I Force Jumped, went through his sunroof and landed safely in my seat, sitting.

Thea was just done putting the gearstick into reverse, when The Technologists' men pulled out their rifles and started shooting at us. "Reverse, reverse, reverse, reverse, REVERSE!" I commanded dissonantly as a spray of full metal jacket rounds ricocheted off from the bulletproof Betagel windows.

She stepped on the gas and our heads jolted to the front as the orange wheels spun backwards and drove the bodywork to outside of the station. As the others have positioned themselves behind us just before the station, she puts Pierre back into Sport Driving and shifted to first, redlining as we drove forward while she applied nitrous, leaving the scene and some rubber smoke as the rest followed from behind.

"How'd they track us down?!" I said coarsely, looking back.

She then shifts into third as the gauge climbed to 140 miles an hour before her answer. "Danny, what's that on your back?"

I turned back, looking at her wit a frown. "What?"

She reached for the back of my neck an peeled something off of it. "This," she said, showing me the object while she turned her attention to the road. It was a small and circular metal object, flashing red light in the middle.

I took some time to scan its internals and analyzed it. It turned out to be a tracking device. "It's a bug. A tracking device." Feeling the anger taking over me, I crushed the bug with my fingers.

Thea then upshifts to fourth. "How'd you get it?"

It hit me in the face, I recalled from my memory when Firas and I hugged goodbye, flashing back into the past. "That no-good snake in the grass, Firas. He bugged me when we hugged each other goodbye."

My guardian/friend looked into the rear view mirror, hoping the enemy doesn't start a chase. "Rotten cheese! They're after us!"

I looked into the side mirror, and saw the black Audis behind the Ghosts. "How far are they behind us, Pierre?"

"A hundred meters and closing, sir."

"PUNCH IT THEA!" She kicked the gas hard and accelerated.

Pierre chimed in on our 'conversation' with an alerting beep. "Sir, traffic jam at one mile ahead!"

"Damn!" I exclaimed, thrusting my head forward in frustration. "How? This was supposed to be the world's loneliest highway!"

"Last minute summer gambling trips to Las Vegas would explain this, sir."

"What now? The roads must be packed with cars!" Thea stated.

"Alternative route suggested. Pinned as 'ProStreet Speed Challenge route'. Half a mile ahead, leading directly to secret base."

Another voice butt in, it was Benjamin, through the comlink. "Why is it called the 'ProStreet Speed Challenge route?"

"Because...the Nevada Highway speed tracks in Need For Speed ProStreet are modeled after the route we're about to take. It abandoned, but still open for traffic."

"In four hundred yards, take the next exit," interrupted Pierre.

We saw the exit a few seconds later, and went for it, heading to the left, going on top of an overpass, into a rocky valley. "We can't let 'em know about the base!" I said. My emotions made me turn on 'My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark' on the stereo for feeling.

"The only way to do that is to immobilized them," Thea suggested.

Then another voice chimed in through the comlink. This time, it was Hussein. "Bad news guys, they're coming out of their windows in threes, AND WITH GUNS!"

"Phantom has hidden turrets, ask him to deploy them!" I shouted into the comlink mic.

I heard the gunshots coming from behind, and one of the rounds hit Pierre body work, right at the rear windscreen in the engine bay. "THAT'S IT! IT'S RUN AND GUN TIME!" I snapped. The keyboard and mouse from the roof of the glovebox popped out and a holographic screen appeared in front of me. It was empty until the four hidden carbon fiber miniguns popped out of the fenders, with the front turrets rotating to the back. Then it showed me the feed from mounted cameras on the guns. Then, crosshairs in four appeared, locking onto four targets. Finally, the barrels spun, ready to raise hell by firing about 6000 by 4 rounds a minute to them.

The crosshairs turned from yellow to red, not allowing me to fire because the targets were blocked by one of us. "I can't shoot, I'm blocked."

"You can't, but I can!" said Hussein with confidence. He and Pamela was second last, giving him an advantage to shoot.

"I can shoot too, I'm in third last!" said one of Hussein's teammates.

Soon, all of the Wolf Pack volunteered to man the turrets.

"Not yet! Wait till I say so!" I wanted to make them crash into the rocky terrains of the unused highway.

We were about to enter course A at a constant 217 miles an hour and the lanes started splitting from one lane to four lanes, two for each way of traffic. Three Bugatti's and one Ghost formed a defense wall on all four lanes behind us so that no Technologist car could pass.

"Entering Nevada speed course A in 3, 2, 1..." We crossed where EA put the starting line on the highway (easier for past players to remember), just in time for the chorus of the song to begin.

"BLOW 'EM UP, BOYS!"

They clicked on their mouses, unleashing hell like no one has ever seen before. I remotely accessed the feed on his turret cams, seeing the black Audis dodge the bullets by snaking on the road from side to side.

Not for one second, the highway narrowed from four to three, and from three to two lanes as we passed a hill on the right side, turning to the right. The defensive wall was forced to break up, drafting behind Pierre.

Pierre gave us a warning as we drove in a valley. "Double caution! Crest ahead! Potential jump, in 2 seconds!"

"Everyone copy?" I asked the convoy, ensuring that they got the warning.

"So much for putting on my lipstick," said Colette disagreeably, being the only looks-sensible rodent in the convoy.

We strapped in, getting ready for the jump. "Brace!" I warned just before. We hit the crest, catching air under a tall and huge billboard that stretched across the road for 0.9 seconds. We landed hard with our heads shaking violently as the Sport Mode suspension setting made the absorbers to stiff up. Sparks came from under the undercarriage, from it scraping against the road.

I looked in the mirror, seeing one of the four RS7s not sticking the landing very well. The rear end bounced, flipping the car on its roof vertically. I had to assume that the rear shocks' rebound rate was so stiff that it made the car...well...it doesn't matter anyway. The only thing that mattered then is that one of their cars were down.

I wondered how everyone was doing after the jump. "How's everyone doing?"

"We're alright!" Violet reported, piloting Banshee.

"I'm fine!" Both Nicky and Paulina replied.

"We're okay!" Pam responded as her partner shot a few hundred more rounds to the enemy vehicles.

"We're fine right here," said Trap.

We maneuvered through a chicane, slightly turning left, then right into a wide valley. Then I noticed that the only group who didn't report in was Geronimo's. "G? Are you alright? Geronimo? Do you copy?"

An answer from his nephew verified that they were. "We're safe and sound. Uncle G's still shaken from the jump and speed."

"To be honest, I think I'm not cut out for this sort of driving!" He said with a trembling voice.

As we tackled the chicane, we drove past a hill with bumpy terrain on the right side as well as some road signs and wooden electrical poles on either side. We had to be cautious.

We entered another chicane, this time, extra cautious because the valley at the turns had huge boulders on both sides. "Everyone tidy into the valley cautiously!" Thea commanded. Everyone understood her rally language, and executed the turns.

One of the four RS6s attempted to slingshot past Phantom at the left in the valley during the chicane, but denied by Pamela. "Not on my watch!" She said to herself. She nudged and grinds the car veering left, and the RS6 met a horrible fate.

The car crashed into the large boulder, flew in the air and nearly missed the roof of an R8 at the back of the pack before it landed. "Good job, Pam! Two down!" I praised.

We entered a short straight, with another short air time spot. No dice, none of the Technologists cars didn't suffer the same fate as the RS7.

We took a long easy right into a four lane straight with three crests. We stuck on the road like glue on the first, flew in a second of air time at the second crest, and went over the third one into a not-so-sharp chicane, back into a straight.

We were just a quarter of the course away to completing Nevada A. All we had to drive past left is the two long banked u-turns at the end.

Then the inevitable happened. The weapons systems were down. "Sir, we've been jammed! All weapon systems have been disabled! They won't be online for 20 minutes," Pierre alarmed. The Technologists came sticking their bodies out of the windows with guns and opened fire.

"Those scoundrels!" Exclaimed Violet as she maneuvered through the straight.

"Though the defense systems are still intact and fully functional," Pierre informed.

"Ghosts! Are your roofjets online?" I asked.

"They are and not affected by the jammer," Phantom replied.

"Deploy them and see what's up front. We need some eyes in the sky. If nothing, turn back and provide an air strike!" Then I advise the ones piloting the Ghosts. "Drivers and passengers in the Ghosts! Caution! your vehicles will blow their roofs off. Keep yourself buckled in at ALL TIMES!"

"Deploying roofjets," said the Ghosts. With each targa top ejected and emitted sonic booms, they flew ahead of us. They reported nothing, and turned back.

"Caution! Rocky terrain on left," alerted Pierre as we entered the first u-turn."

The jets loop-de-looped to behind the enemy cars and launched every single pod rocket they got as we exited the first right u-turn. Some dodged the rockets (missing them by a hair), while three were struck at the fuel tank in the back, exploding into a blaze of white fire as the body panels were made of magnesium. In addition to that, they flipped the same way as the RS6.

We were halfway through the second banked left turn in between two tall hills, about to enter Nevada B.

"No rockets left, sir! We can only provide reconnaissance from here on out," Phantom said.

"No weapons, no tactics, we've got nothing!" Benjamin said, doubting our chances of success.

"I've got an idea. Danny, you take the wheel!" Thea ordered.

"HUH?" I responded in disbelief.

"You said that you can drive, right?"

"I can! But what are you gonna do?"

"Something crazy..." She enabled autopilot and took out her SCAR from under her seat, cocking it. "Pierre! Open the sunroof!" Pierre opened the tinted glass, and Thea unbuckled her seatbelt. "Time to get some battle-SCARs...hehe...geddit?" I got the pun and chuckled. "Wish me luck..." She then climbs her way up and sticks half of her body outside.

She kneeled, one leg on the console, the other on the seat. The wind blew her fur and ears, making it hard for her to settle. Meanwhile, I struggled to switch seats, avoiding the gearstick and Thea's leg as I climbed the console. I finally sat comfortably, buckled up, and got ready to disable autopilot. I breathed in, then out, and got hold of the wheel. I was driving, speedily and felt the rush of adrenalin pumping in my veins. "Hold him steady!" Thea advised, taking aim.

I put on a courageous smile, feeling happy to drive again. We finished Nevada A, crossing the start of Nevada B. I saw and heard Thea shooting at the enemy with precision, skill, and full of accuracy. Every lead projectile that left the barrel hit the enemy, condemning them slowly. She managed to headshot the driver in one of the S8s, making the car go off course, and hit an electrical pole at the side of the road. I felt proud. "That's it Thea! Keep shooting!" I praised. She and The Technologists exchanged fire.

The others wanted to try as well, the way they suggested it to each other through the comlink. "Look! Thea took out one of them!" Exclaimed Pamela.

"Let's do the same!" Nicky said.

"Are you sure we can do this?" Colette wondered.

"Hey, Thea can do it. Why can't we?" Violet replied, slapping some sense into her friend.

The French rodent thought about it, and agreed. "For Thea..."

"Before you do that, you might want to hang on," I advised. "We're approaching another jump, this time, we're gonna catch some big air!" Thea overheard and got back in. She sat in the passenger seat, buckling up.

We went up the incline at 218 miles an hour. I wanted to show off, so I swerved at the last minute of the climb. As a result, I pulled off a few flat spins as we went airborne as high as a truck and again landed hard, scraping the undercarriage like recently. I managed to pull out of the flat spin, speeding forward.

"ARE YOU A MANIAC?" Thea shouted

"I _know_ I am! And _that_ is why Brock Russell lost the world's greatest young driver title to me!"

"Ugh... Alright Sisters, Wolf Pack. LET'S LIGHT 'EM UP!" She climbed out again, this time, she got the help she needed. The Stiltons and a Woz joined in, Anton and Colette (the Bugatti) popped their glass targa tops, leaving them behind. Everyone got ahold of their rifles, activated autopilot, peered back and opened fire, in time for the second and final chorus.

**My songs know what you did in the dark! (Everyone locking and loading)**

**(My songs know what you did in the dark!) (peering back, taking aim in slow motion)**

**So light 'em up, up, up (opening fire)**

**Light 'em up, up, up**

**Light 'em up, up, up (Colette (mouse) shoots driver of R8)**

**I'm on fiya! (R8 goes off the road, rams a road sign, car wreck gets rammed by 3 cars)**

**So light 'em up, up, up (Paulina shoots right tire of RS7, veering to bumpy sides of hill)**

**Light 'em up, up, up**

**Light 'em up, up, up **

**I'm on fiya! (Car flips across road, rolls, taking out 5 cars)**

**Oh, whoa, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, whoa! **

**In the dark, dark! (Benjamin shoots windshield, takes out 5 cars in a chain reaction)**

**Oh, whoa, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, whoa!**

**In the dark, dark! (Thea becomes sniper, shoots driver's head of final car)**

**Oh, whoa, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, whoa! **

I couldn't express how the victory felt like when the final car slowed down. I felt the pride inside me towards her growing.

I was happy and relieved, I felt like shouting. "HELL YEAH BABY! THAT WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" To celebrate, I reached my hand up so Thea could high-five it.

I heard the cheers and screams of joy through the comlink as Thea high-fived me. "Did you see that shot?" Thea said, high-fiving me.

"I did! I really gotta hand-paw it to ya, Thea. That's one heck of an eye you've got there!" I commented as everyone sat back in and buckled up.

"You're no different! You drove like Sebastian Vettel!"

"That was nothing! Seriously!"

We calmed down and decelerated to 130 miles an hour, taking the trip slow and steady like before.

Just when we thought everything was over...

God, we could have never been any more wrong.

We approached an empty four-lane straight, widened, surrounded by a cactus patch. We scattered ourselves randomly on the road. As the roofjets circled the area for recon, they picked up something. "Sir, our roofjets are picking up a signal on our radar, closing in on our five o'clock, fast," Phantom reported.

"Distance and speed?" I asked as I kept Pierre steady at the center of the road.

"Hundred and fifty-eight knots in one klick."

I took a second of silence to find out what I've been hearing for the past minute. "Something's not right, we've missed something." Out of the tensity I felt, I thought of turning on 'Through The Gates' by Celldweller on the stereo. (Asphalt 8 players maybe aware of what song it is.)

"What do you mean? We already took 'em out, what's to miss?" Asked Thea.

"I've been hearing swooshing with my enhanced hearing for the past minute. Coming from the stated direction."

"Maybe I can check what it is," volunteered Geronimo.

"Go ahead," I permitted.

"Benjamin, do you still have that 22x zoom sniper scope with you?"

"Yeah."

"Can I borrow it for one second?"

"Sure..." He opened up the glove box and reached for it. Then he paws it to his uncle.

The rodent turned his body towards his five o' clock. He crouched with his right leg extended to support his forearm as he holds the scope and looks through it. The intro of the song was beginning.

At first, the only thing he saw was an unfocused black dot. Coming from it was the swooshing sound. "Whaddya see?" I asked.

"Hold on, I'm trying to get it to focus," he replied, adjusting the focus rate knob.

It came closer, and the swooshing became louder. "Any visual, Geronimo?" Hussein asked.

"Not yet," he reported again, still turning the knob to make it focus.

As the suspense in the desert air intensified, the intro almost ended, reaching the verse. He then gets a little out of the dot, blades from a helicopter rotor, spinning. "I'm getting a visual, looks like an aircraft." He focused it even more, as the drums and the guitar riff in the verse started playing. Then he made out the image, making our worst nightmare come true.

"Great Gouda," he exclaimed. "What's an AH-64 Apache doing out here in the open desert?" The console and grabbed his

"It's all jet black according to my eyes. That ain't Air Force colors," Hussein indicated. Then,

"Ready your weapons everyone! We're about to have another battle!" He set the scope down at the console and grabbed his M4 CQB from his side, aiming for the helicopter. The others did the same. Thea struggled to climb out, but she managed to do it anyway.

They waited in anticipation, waiting for the heli to arrive. It did in a matter of seconds. Right as the intense part of the verse played, the attack helicopter hovered behind us just a few feet over the road and fired high explosive incendiary rounds out of its M230 chain gun, destroying parts of the road.

"TAKE IT DOWN!" Geronimo yelled, as I heard through the comlink.

They and the enemy aircraft exchanged fire, while the autopilot and I swerved side to side, dodging the rounds. They tried in vain, as none of the shots inflicted any damage on the chopper.

Not for two minutes the firefight started, the helicopter already ran out of ammo from its chain gun, switching to its AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.

"WATCH OUT FOR MISSILES!" I warned. The more intense chorus played, the choir sang and the heli fire one of its missiles to the Wolf Pack and the Ghosts, miraculously dodged it and nearly misses it by a microbe, destroying the road, shaking the ground.

They continued to return fire in between the interval of the chopper firing the next Hellfire. Shots and shell ejections sounded right in front of Geronimo's squeaks of motivation. "DON'T STOP! DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO BRING IT DOWN!"

Just after his speech, the Apache locks onto Diane and her pilot or gunner, Nicky and fires another missile. It hit the road just near the right door and left a crater on the highway. "This is definitely much worse than Hawaii!" Nicky yelled.

Phantom drives next to Diane, with Pamela replying: "Ya think?"

The Apache fired it's next missile as the choir of the song sang. This time, locking onto Pierre. "Shoot!" I exclaimed, twisting the wheel to the right, as the Hellfire destroyed the road at the left. I snapped when it attacked my most precious car. "THAT'S IT! PIERRE, AUTOPILOT!" I commanded. I let go of the wheel and banged on the dashboard on the passenger side, reveling my secret weapon inside it.

A short version of the Russian RPG-7 rocket launcher with its warhead separated.

I held the rear grip with my right hand, and the warhead at the left. Then I unbuckled my belt, then climbed up.

Outside, the attack aircraft fired another missile, locked on Banshee. "Move aside Thea!" I said.

She moved aside and looked at me with the rocket launcher with full of shock. "What in the name of cheese?!" She exclaimed.

"Geronimo did say whatever it takes!" I replied, assembling the warhead with the launcher.

I put the launcher on my shoulder and thumbed the hammer on the front left-handed grip. "You messed with the bull, NOW YOU GET THE HORNS!"

I pulled the trigger, releasing the rocket-propelled grenade to the Apache while leaving a trail of black smoke behind. The rocket struck the nose of the aircraft head to head, exploding it into fiery ball of wreckage, synchronized with the song's ending, making it feel more epic. The explosion rocked our convoy, as well as it crashed to the ground.

"BOOM, BABEH!" I shouted in victory.

"You had that all this time and you didn't tell me?" Geronimo shouted from inside Colette.

"Should I?" I shouted back, feeling like I'm in trouble.

"You should have, so we could have blew it up earlier," Hussein agreed to his fellow colleague's point.

"Now that's settled, let's just speed through so we don't bump into anymore threats," Thea suggested, as she went back inside. I followed, and buckled up. Thea permitted me to drive the rest of the way, so the others had to catch up (I drive really fast).

We fled the scene with no serious damage taken, with only the loss of the two Bugatti's roofs at the cost of fighting. We finished the course a minute later, entering back to I-80, cutting the traffic jam.

* * *

**I-80, Nye County, Nevada. 1550 hours**

It was twenty minutes after we finished Nevada B. We were driving normal again on I-80, maintaining speed and chilled in the air-conditioned cockpit as the Nevada sun blazed over the desert. Poor occupants of Anton and Colette, they suffered the heat as the roofs that were blown off and left behind during the moving standoff. As for the Ghosts, their roofs reunited with their respectful cars, shading their passengers.

We drove along the part of the flat desert land, not like the abandoned highway. I kept driving as Thea and I ate a bag of cheese-flavored corn chips. "How much further are we to the base, Pierre?" Thea asked, munching on a corn chip.

"Hope it's not...crackle...far, we're frying...crackle...eggs out here," Benjamin interrupted, with the wind blowing into the mic.

I really thought that he was frying eggs back there. So I asked for reconfirmation. "You hope that it's far and you're frying eggs back there?"

Thea asked again. "Benjamin, could you repeat that? We didn't quite copy."

"I said: I hope it isn't far, we're frying like eggs out here!" answered Benjamin, shouting into the mic.

Colette was instead to answer him and his aunt. "Don't you worry, my dear Benjamin. We're almost there."

"In three hundred yards, turn right and go off-road," informed Pierre.

"This is it, people! Get ready and switch to Desert Mode!" I told the convoy through the comlink.

"Turn right." That was our signal, we veered right to the sand and turned on desert mode. The Michelin slicks retreaded to spiky sand patterns, the suspension softened, and the ride height increased by 25 millimeters with the help of the active hydraulic suspension system.

"Tunnel entrance at one klick away," said Pierre.

"Are about to catch air again? If we are, I think I'm about to..." Geronimo said, sounding nauseous. He barfed in his mouth and swallowed it back down. "I think I'll throw up."

"We're not, the ramp is jump compensated. Don't worry," I ensured.

"Oh, thank Gouda..."

We approached the entrance that was camouflaged as a part of the desert. It slid open, side to side. We drove on the curved ramp, paved out of Tarmac and entered the one-lane tunnel.

"Welcome to my base!" I greeted as we slowed down to a road with parking spots on the left side. In front of it was a a long glass wall, stretching along the spaces, overlooking my lair. The walls were decorated with cave crystals, and most people focused on the central computer at the middle of the lair, made up of a bunch of screens, mounted on the wall. Not to mention the whole area was as large as a soccer pitch and the walls are as tall as a small two-story house.

I and the others shut of our cars engines and got out, immediately taking out our luggage. "I thought your secret retreat estate was the best home I've ever seen yet, but I stand corrected," said Thea who took her bag and shut the hood.

The feeling spread to everyone else. Especially Colette, who thought that the hideout was luxurious. As for Benjamin, Geronimo, Trap, and Pandora, they felt so relieved after feeling the cool air from the air-conditioners.

The glass wall was built about a car-length's deeper into the lair, to accommodate stairs to the lair at the beginning of the wall. I invited every man and mouse inside. "Please, make yourselves at home," I said, stepping down the stairs. I pointed everything out like I did at my retreat estate. "That's the central supercomputer, at the left of it are the men's rooms, and at the right are the girls' rooms. That's the break space, the games' space with a pool table, the semi-enclosed living room, next to it is an open kitchen with a counter and a dinner table, and that turntable in the middle space right there is for holographic projections of cars, for show. There are lots of other rooms but I am as you already might now too lazy too mention them all. J-Son, my smart home system will assist you if you ever get lost in the corridors leading to the rooms."

"I got dibs on the biggest room!" said Hussein childishly, racing for the men's rooms with his teammates.

"You girls go settle in first, I'm just gonna go sit down," Thea insisted to her students.

The rest of us went to relax and unwind at the living room. "It's been a hell of a day, don't you all think?" I said as we all sat down in my white Italian leather couch.

"Yeah, I'm beat," Thea agreed.

"I feel like sleeping for a month," said Trap.

"For once, I agree with you, Trap," Geronimo added.

"I don't know about all of you, but I'm hungry, again," interrupted Benjamin.

"There some cheese in the kitchen, go check 'em out." The mouselet got up and invited his friend, Pandora and scampered to the kitchen.

"Let's just hope that they don't find us this time," I summarized.

"But we shouldn't underestimate them. They're unpredictable," said Geronimo.

"Yeah, who knows what they'll do this time..." Thea added.

"But now, let's just relax," I continued.

"Way ahead of you, Danny," replied Trap.

We enjoyed of what was left of our day, and slept through it. Now if you all don't mind, I myself will relax, and see you in the next chapter.

* * *

*Source: Heroes Wiki.


	14. Chapter 14-Unveiling The Truth

**A/N: I am back, readers! Welcome to another chapter. In fact, I will be posting 3 (three) chapters at once! This one will include a little bit of My Little Dashie by ROBCakeran53 (Thanks for the Fanfic bro!) and how it reflects with Danny's life. Okay now, enjoy the new chapter(s)! (Yay! No more author notes for the next two chapters! I think...)**

**Disclaimer**

**The usual same old, same old I don't own anything except the OCs routine...**

* * *

**Chapter 14**

**Unveiling The Truth**

**Later that day...**

**August 25, 2013**

**7.58 p.m.**

It's been a few hours since we settled in the 'cave'. Had a change of fresh and clean clothes, showered, and everybody's doing their own activities. Thea and her students, the Thea sisters, were using the training facility in one of the rooms built into the walls, Trap and the teenage mouselets were ranking up the online leaderboards of Fields Of Battle 2 (again), Hussein and the Wolf Pack were wrestling up their own dinner sandwiches at the kitchen, while I was getting a wheel of Brie on a plate from the fridge, some saucers and crackers from the counter, singing, then walked my way cheerfully to the semi-enclosed living room, where Geronimo was typing a mission summary report for the General Secretary.

I rested the plate of crackers and Brie on the coffee table in front of me and sat down on my Italian leather couch. "Crackers and cheese?" I offered the hardworking mouse as I sat down.

He took a sniff of the cheese's delicious-smelling aroma. "Is that Brie I smell?" He identified.

"Yup... _Brie de Melun_ to be exact," I replied, cutting a piece with a cheese knife.

"It smells so delightful..." continued the agent, putting his attention to the French cheese to the fullest.

"And so I ask again, want some?"

"Don't mind if I do," he accepted without hesitation. He slid the saucer with his cheese cracker sandwich next to his computer, and munched on the finger food. "Mm... This is tasty! Where did you find this?"

"FYI, I made it myself."

"_You_ made this? I have to say, you really aged to it to perfection. Who taught you how to make this?"

I switched to my Italian again. "Taught? No one taught me, I just inherited my ma's cooking skills!"

"Sorry if you're hurt after I say this, but, she'd be proud of you if she was here." I thought of the same, my mom must be proud of me for inheriting her skills.

"Actually, I'm think I'm kinda over it. When all o' you came into my life, it's never been better! New friends, new companions... Besides, you guys feel like my second family."

"Good to know," he responded, taking another bite of his cheese cracker sandwich.

I saw Thea in her karate gi with her black belt equipped across the 'cave' with her students, just walking out the door of the training facility. They split up, Thea approached us while the Thea Sisters went to change.

She sniffed the air as she closed in. "Ooh, is that Brie I smell?"

"Indeed it is, and made by yours truly," I replied.

"_You_ made _this_?" Thea said in disbelief, pointing at the Brie. "This whole wheel of Brie?"

"I know how you feel, this boy is full of wonders, isn't he?" Geronimo responded. "So, how was training?" Asked the older brother about her students.

"Phew, it was tiring!" she said, collapsing herself next to me on the sofa. "I never knew Violet was pre-trained with Kung Fu, so she packed the most punch. Can I have some of that cheese?"

"Be my guess..." She took the cheese knife and cut a small segment of the wheel, then onto her saucer.

Meanwhile, the Wolf Pack were just about to enjoy their dinner sandwiches. "My masterpiece is finished!" Announced the leader of the Pack, Agent Hussein. He brought his footlong plate to the counter and sat on the high stool.

"What'd you put in it?" asked his second in command, Agent Ahmed Kassim. He was about Hussein's height, 6 feet 5 inches, heavy build, a little goatee, brown eyes and just plain bald. He also has a not-so-low voice.

"Pretty much everything Subway had to offer. A footlong sandwich bread, chicken salami, meatballs, lettuce, sliced olives and tomatoes, onions, pickle slices, mayonnaise, ketchup, and black pepper sauce. Not for getting any sliced cheddar."

"You sure you can finish this?" said another teammate, Agent Yassir Khalid. Standing at 6-foot 3", medium build, an 80s mustache, and a flattop, just like Hussein. Looks somewhat American. He has a medium-pitched voice which could make him the next Tom Kenny.

"What are ya talkin' about? Of course I can finish this!" Hussein replied confidently. Too confident in fact.

Hussein lifted one end of the sandwich and took a huge bite out of it, leaving tooth marks on the giant sub. The over-saucing made the ketchup, mayonnaise, and black pepper sauce ooze out of the dish as he chomped it. "Mmm... Tastes real good!" He licked the oozed sauce on his fingers. Then the sound of him munching pulled ahead of his words. "Okay, I maybe, repeat, _maybe_ stand corrected. I think I can't finish this giant alone."

"Why not let Pam finish it with you?" Kassim teased.

Then the kitchen and the whole 'cave' echoed the roar of the Wolf Pack's teasing 'whoas'. Hussein did nothing but only put an embarrassed smile on his face and his cheeks flushed Ferrari red. "You jokesters... Reeeeeeally funny, guys."

The Thea Sisters came out of the girls' rooms right on time when the Pack stopped, and they walked towards us at the living room, for the cheese!

"Girls! Come for some cheese! We've got Brie! Bring those gamers along while you're at it!" I invited.

They invited the three gaming mice to the living room to finish the whole wheel of Brie. "Brie?!" Benjamin shouted. He left the controller in his paw and scampered to us.

"I want some!" Pandora said, who followed her friend, leaving Trap behind.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Trap said, slipping and tumbling forward as he was about to launch into a run.

**After a brief Brie dinner later...**

After stuffing ourselves moments ago, we stood by for movie night at the living room while we waited for Thea to come. Trap complained about him having stomach aches after over-eating the French cheese. He had the biggest slice; about five centimeters of arc length.

Thea appears out of the sliding doors of the girls' rooms in her purple turtleneck sweater. "I'm set!" She said upon exit.

I invited Hussein and his team from across the 'cave', as they occupied the gaming space, dancing it up on a colorful dance mat to beat his teammate in a dancing-themed video game. "Ay Hussein!" I shouted.

"I'm kinda busy here, what's up?" he shouted back, jumping back and forth.

"Yo, it movie night!"

"Movie night?" He paused to pull off a breakdance move. "Is it eight already?"

"Why else would I be calling ya for?"

"Just a sec." He finished his dance, putting him in the winner's circle. "Oh yeah! Top THAT off boyeeee!" Hussein said, taunting Kassim. "Hold on, me and the boys need to fetch our popcorn."

I nodded and looked back at my guests and or guardians in the living room. "Alright guys and gals, follow me to the theater."

"Wait, I thought we were having it here," Paulina said.

"Here? No way, this 80-inch flatscreen is too small. Plus, the sound will echo off the 'cave' walls."

"Huh...good point."

We lifted ourselves of the couches and walked in a huge group, with me in the lead.

We entered a corridor which was a door next to the girls' rooms, walking for a few seconds to the theater's wooden push doors, hearing the murmurs from everyone of every topic.

I pushed the doors to the theater, seeing the huge space lit by orange-tone wall lights. It was super cold from the air-conditioners blowing breezes of cool air, that's why I advised everyone to where sweaters...and bring a handkerchief along.

It was a relieving sight to see one of my favorite places in the 'cave' as I left the place six weeks ago, after making that specific Brie we ate. "Welcome to my theater!" I greeted invitingly. Louder murmuring mixed with 'oohs' and 'ahhs' rose from the group behind me, some feeling giddy, some astounded, some with just plain 'whoa' that sounded like the place took their breath away. They should because the screen was about as big as an actual size of that a cinema's, the ten percent inclined rows of seats made it big enough to seat over a hundred people in one big row, and the place was decorated with red wallpaper, and some wooden furnishings. The seats had immersive surround sound speakers at ear level. And to top it all off, the screen self-generates 3D projections so real, that it seems that you could almost reach out and touch it-without any aid of glasses.

"I think I said this before, but still, you had left me open-mouthed once again," said Thea.

I stopped at a step of the stairs and turned to face everyone. "Alright, a little briefing. I want the Wolf Pack to sit in this row, the Thea Sisters at the row behind them, and the Stiltons, Pandora and me sit in the row behind the Thea Sisters." They proceeded to their seats, and settled down.

I then stood in the row in front of everybody to give out a speech. "Okay, if I could take some time before we start the movie, I just want to say thank you all once again for being here, either to protect me, comfort me, or other reasons beyond." Once that was done, I entered the topic about the movie we were about to watch. "Now, about the movie. I know that this might sound weird, but, how many of you here is interested in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic? Please raise your hand. Or paw." I thought that no one would respond, but Pandora raised her paw right away, sipping on her cup of Pepsi. "Anyone? Just Pandora?" Then out of nowhere, Benjamin raised his paw, slowly. Then slowly the Thea Sisters. Then Thea. Then her brother and cousin, shockingly. I thought that having Geronimo being a Brony was stupefying me enough, but what left me aghast was that even the Wolf Pack slowly raised their hands, with embarrassment. And then Hussein let out an awkward cough. "Whoa! I'm quite surprised!"

"What surprised me is that I never knew Geronimo was a Brony," said Thea, peering to her big brother.

"And I never knew YOU were a pegassister," replied Geronimo, peering to his sister.

"And the Wolf Pack, I never knew you had such interest!" I said.

"We're closet bronies, so we don't tell people except ourselves," Hussein responded. "Why are you asking us this anyway?"

"Okay, here it comes. I was scrolling through YouTube videos under the search of 'MLP' the other day when everyone was asleep during our trip to Nevada, then I found a fan-made movie-which reminds me, all of you must have read the fanfic, 'My Little Dashie', correct?" They all nodded. "Okay, I found a fan-made movie on YouTube about that fanfic that ran two hours long*. I've seen the movie myself that night, and it was so sad at the end, it broke my heart. Twice. I downloaded it, and know I'm going to share it all with you. That was why I advised all of you to bring handkerchiefs, so the place won't be flooded with tears. I'm not gonna spoil any of it for your entertainment. So, just sit back, relax, and enjoy the movie." I climbed back up to take a seat next to Thea and told J-Son to dim the lights and roll the movie.

* * *

**9.50 p.m.**

What made the movie ran for two hours were that the makers of the movie added some scenes that weren't written in the actual fanfic, and some scenes of the short vignettes were elongated to explain what really happened at that scene, like when Dashie and her unnamed adoptive father decided to move to the countryside from the city, though some exaggerations were added.

We were nearing the ending, the scene when the remaining Mane Six members and Princess Celestia came to the unnamed man's house. Everyone was already tearing up at the scene before, when the unnamed father walked to look for Dashie in the rain. They blew out their noses and ate popcorn as they weeped.

The scene started with Dashie's unnamed father getting ready to go on an outing to go see a flight show that they planned in the last scene, for Dashies twentieth birthday, as the movie was based on the fanfic.

"Dashie! Today's the big day!" called her 'dad' from down the stairs. This was what I meant in what I mentioned in the paragraph before the last paragraph.

"Oh darn! I forgot! Dad, what time is it?" asked the 2D animated Rainbow Dash from her room, shouting. She was about to get out of bed.

"Better hurry up, it's already eight. We gotta get there by nine-thirty, and the air show starts at ten. Plus, the airbase is like an hour away from here."

"I'll be ready in a few minutes! Hang on!" Dashie flung open her door and trotted into the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

"Are you even showered yet?"

"Does it count if I'm still in the shower?" she asked, with some of her voice blocked by the door.

"No, it doesn't! I'm just gonna assume that you just got up from sleep. Hey, when you're done, join me at the kitchen for breakfast."

"Okay!"

'Dad' walked away from the stairwell to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, the camera shifts back to outside the bathroom, and Rainbow Dash came out on cue with a towel on her head, pre-drying her multi-colored mane. She trotted back into her room, wiping off her wet cyan fur with a separate towel. Finally, she shaped her mane to her usual style, shaking off a drop of water right after. After she was done, she trotted out and down the stairs, with the wind behind her made her door close.

She turned left at the stairwell entrance and slowed down when her 'dad' was in her sight, eating a sandwich in the kitchen. "Hey Dad! Sorry I was late."

"Late? It was only a few seconds ago when I sat down here," said 'dad', taking a big bite out of his breakfast.

"Well, 'Dash' is my name," Dashie punned, getting onto her chair. Her caretaker as I would address him, just chuckled.

"Here, I made some toast and here's some peanut butter," offered the man, pushing the plate of toast to her 'daughter' across the table. "There's some strawberry jam in the fridge, if you want."

"No thanks," she respectfully declined. She then surprisingly opens the jar of peanut butter, despite having no opposable thumbs...or fingers. I just ignored it and continued with the movie. Again, she grabbed a butter knife and stabs into the jar and pulled it out, spreading the PB on her crusty toast.

The movie moved to the next scene, where they were about to leave for the air show. "Alright, I've my wallet, my keys, the air show tickets are in my pocket, and we only need to fill up the Impreza's gas tank. Then were ready to go!" 'Dad' announced.

"Yay! We finally get to see F-22 fighter jets flying over us!" Dashie said, jumping up and down in the living room excitedly. Then I thought to myself...

'Here it comes...the moment.'

There was an unexpected knock on the door. "Are we expecting someone, dad?" Asked the naive Pegasus pony, despite being in her twenties.

"Not really," her caretaker answered. "Go back upstairs into your room, I'll go take care of it." Without any questions asked, Dashie obeyed her 'father' and went back up to her room.

The unnamed man approached the door, not opening it yet. "May I ask who's at the door?" said the man, calmly. A female voice answered in such an elegant, yet attention-grabbing tone.

"May I come in?" Said the voice, technically not answering the man's question. Rather replaying without identifying herself. He was about to refuse, but changed his mind.

He opened the door.

He saw the figure standing on all fours, right beside the front-right fender of his sky blue Subaru Impreza parked in the porch. I felt what he felt, loss of words, clashing both emotions of Brony excitement when he first found Dashie, and the sorrow for he knew what this meant. He was either dreaming or seeing things. It was not other than the majestic Princess Celestia. They gazed at each other, eye to eye. He stepped back to where the door was to let her in. As he was about to close the door, five other ponies followed behind her, coming from the other side of the car. First was Twilight Sparkle, then the rest of the Mane Six, or what was left of it; Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and finally Pinkie Pie who bounced in, emitting a 'boing' with every bounce.

"Ooooh, so this is what an alien house looks like on the insi- OH MY! YOU HAVE A KITCHEN! I'm starving, are you starving? I can make us some-"

She was stopped by Applejack's hoof, stomping on her tail, "Easy there sugarcube. We're jus' here fer Rainbow, so we ain't got no time for any eatin'..." Her stomach growled, "...now matter HOW hungry we are.

He offered some food anyway. "Uh...we have some left overs from dinner last night, and breakfast from just now. You're more than welcome to some."

Pinkie, without an answer, trotted her way to the kitchen. "Ah'll go keep an eye on her," Applejack said, walking to join the hyper pony. As she passed, she tipped her cowboy hat to the man.

A short moment of silence entered the house as the two passed.

"I'm quite surprised," Celestia began, "I had expected a little more resistance to us entering."

"Why? I know who you are." He took a seat at the armrest of his couch in the living room.

Celestia nodded, "Ah, so you do know then."

"That you're fictional characters from a children's TV show, then yes. Otherwise why you are all here, I've no clue."

Celestia denied the statement. "Oh, I think you _do_ know."

Again, I felt what he felt. His heart fell into the bottomless abyss of his stomach. He let out a heavy sigh.

"Um...excuse me sir," Twilight began, "But from what we could figure out Rainbow Dash should be here. Is she?"

"She's up stairs in her room," he answered, pointing out the direction with his thumb.

"In _maybe_ room?" Rarity asked surprised.

"Yeah, Dashie's in her room," the man answered, bouncing his head to confirm his point.

"Dashie? My, my...you're that friendly with her already?" Rarity continued. She could say that...

If if it hadn't been fifteen years.

The insulted man clenched his fist, with the raging fire burning in his eyes. Rarity saw that he was mad, and looked away.

'Dad' stood up in anger. "FRIENDLY? That's not even the beginning of it. And I should be asking you ponies as to what the hell _you_ did?"

Celestia raised her right brow slightly seen, being it covered by her long, wavy mane. Taken back by the change of tone, she replied. "You see, my student-"

"I know who she is, just cut to the chase." He put his arms akimbo.

Twilight was seen in the background biting her lip, as her mentor continued. "Yes, of course. Ahem, she was working on a spell to help the weather team with some storm development. Well, they made slightly too large of a storm, and when Twilight used her magic to try and dispel it, it shot a lightning bolt meeting her magic. Rainbow Dash was unfortunate enough to be within reach of the blast, and it engulfed her and sent her to, well, here. So, we are here to retrieve her, simple enough I'd imagine."

Before he could answer, Dashie called from her bedroom, "Dad? Is everything alright?"

Everypony looked at each other, confused.

"Uh... 'scuse me sugarcube," Applejack started, returning from the kitchen with Pinkie Pie, who ate a refrigerated cinnamon bun, "did ah jus' hear Rainbow call ya "dad"?"

Celestia started up again, "Do you care to explain?"

'Dad' hung his head, sighing. "Go into the living room and make yourselves comfortable, I'll be right down with her." He walked to the stairwell without any response from the ponies.

"Dad?" The Pegasus called again.

"Yeah Dashie, I'm coming up. We..." He looked back down to the group of ponies as they watched him take on the steps, "... we need to talk."

The next scene played, the both came down. "DASHIE!" Pinkie shouted, jumping onto her cyan friend. Or at least _was_ her friend. I put another popcorn kernel in my mouth from Thea's popcorn bucket.

Rainbow Dash was quick to shove the pink pony off, "Hey, get away from me!" She was taken back by the sudden amount of ponies filling our living room. They all looked to her with worried expressions as to why she shoved her closest friend away.

"You... don't recognize me... do you?" Pinkie said sadly, slowly tearing up.

"No, or any of you," Dashie continued.

"Sigh...take a seat, please...so I can talk to them..." ordered her 'father'.

Like recently, no questions asked, she hovered her way to the recliner, next to the fireplace and the sliding doors to the backyard. The camera recorded her slowly moving to it.

"How long ago was she sent over here?" Asked the man, turning to the ponies.

Twilight cleared her throat to speak up. "About fifteen days ago, why?"

"Well," I continued, "It's been a lot more time than that here."

"How long?"

"Fif...teen _YEARS_..." He said calmly, separating the syllables on the first word. The ponies, except Celestia, gaped.

"That don't es'plain why she don't know us," Applejack said.

"That's the thing. When I found her, she was...a filly."

The southern farm-pony raised her eyebrow. "Come again?"

"From my math, I think she was no older than four or five years old." THEN Celestia looked surprised.

"You mean to tell us, that you have been taking care of Rainbow Dash for fifteen years, since she was a small filly?" she asked.

He nodded, turning to his 'daughter'.

"We... she is..." He started, but just couldn't hold back my tears any longer, "I know it's not true...god, I wish it was, but-" At that moment, every occupant in the theater started tearing and sobbing. I only rolled down a drop on my cheek.

"I understand, the 'dad' now makes sense," Celestia cut him off.

RD broke the silence in the room. "So what's supposed to happen now?"

"Well, it's quite simple," started Celestia heavily. "Twilight, do you still remember that memory spell? From the Discord incident?"

Colette was overwhelmed with emotions and collapsed on Violet's shoulder, crying.

Twilight simply nodded, as she stood from the couch and hopped onto the floor.

She approached the cyan Pegasus, with her horn glowing with magic aura. She was stopped by her 'dad'. "No, wait! Please!" He raised his voice, reaching out his arm. "Just...give me a moment with her, please. All I ask, since..." He choked, "...since this is the last time we'll see each other."

Twilight walked away, leaving the two alone. "Dashie, my little Dashie. I love you with all my heart. You have done wonders to open me up from the man I once was. You..." He had to pause a moment, to settle down from his emotions, "... you have brought me so much joy in my life that I can't possibly ever thank you for."

At that point, everyone was weeping, even me. Thea saw me in that state, and pulled me close as she always did.

Back to the movie, Dashie too had begun to cry. "These fifteen years we have had together, talking, playing, flying; all those have been so special to me. I just want you to know, that I will forever love you. It doesn't matter if we aren't biologically related, or of different worlds. I don't care what you may ever think of me, or if you ever even remember me, but right now, you being my Dashie, I want you," he poked her on her chest, "to know that fact. If there is ever a problem that happens, and you need me, don't hesitate to find a way to get me, okay?" Pinkie sniffed it up as she looked at the two with watering eyes.

"D-d-do I have t-t-to go d-d-daddy?" RD stammered, sniffing as she looked at her 'father' ever so deeply into his eyes. He answered with a nod, about to stand up. "So much for seeing the F-22s..."

Before he could even gain his balance, Rainbow Dash stood on her hind legs, threw her forelegs around her 'dad's neck, hugging him tight. He joined her in an embrace. With a sad piano riff accompanying in the background, that was the climax of the sadness we felt in the theater.

On our side of things, Hussein just let it out.

"It's your actual home, Dashie. You don't belong here. You need to go back to where you belong," he continued, still embracing his 'child'.

"But I belong HERE, with YOU!"

She broke the silence again. "I love you, daddy..."

"I love you too, my lil' Dashie..."

At that point all the other ponies had tears flowing, even Celestia herself.

Twilight stepped closer to Rainbow Dash, sniffling once before her horn glowed purple.

Man, it me hurt so much, despite not having any relation to the film.

"Wait!"

RD's 'dad' looked from the floor to her, as she backed away from Twilight, "Before I go, I wanna go get something."

She flew back up to her room, and quickly flew back down with a Nike shoebox in her front hooves. She set it down on the living room coffee table, opened it up and took out a pen and paper. She quietly wrote something down with her mouth as the camera recorded in a long shot view.

Dashie made it quick and short (sorta), and after she was done, she dropped the pen, and left both stationery next to her shoebox.

She looked back at her 'dad', smiling, still crying, as she walked back to Twilight. "I'm so sorry Rainbow Dash," she started. "I...I honestly wish there was another way to do this. I wish I didn't have to do this. But..." She was still hurt as she was about to do something that could hurt her friend mentally. That cut her off.

"Can't..." Dashie started, "...can't he come with me?"

Celestia instantly answered. "Rainbow Dash-" Princess Celestia started, with tears on her face, "He cannot join you in our world much like how you cannot stay in his. This was all never meant to be, and the world around us was not made to house you. And yet..." She paused to look around her surroundings. "...and yet, something beautiful happened here. Something I cannot explain in full." Her tone raised as she choked on her emotions.

She continued. "When I realized where you ended up, I expected the worst. I figured you to be ruined, tainted and tarnished from this world's cruelty. But now, I see that it's quite the opposite. That here, this man that has raised you, shows me that you were in good hooves- Or, hands as it were."

She turned to the man, smiling. "I cannot speak for you, but from what I see in front of me, the amount of love you both share and have shared together, tells me that you raised her as if she was your own. Even with the obvious differences, you still raised her un-biased as to her species, her origins. You raised her as your daughter, which only makes this entire ordeal so much worse."

Thea blew her nose. Making matters worse, she did it with my handkerchief!

Celestia sniffled before her words. "So, I must say to you, dear sir, please do not hold my student accountable for this. It was never her, nor anypony elses intention to cause this much hurt to either of you. If you must blame somepony, I would ask you to blame ME," she said with a tone full of guilt. "I am the one that helped bring them here, to take Rainbow Dash back to her home... away from here."

Dashie's unnamed 'father' rejected the statement. "Just how could I blame somepony? For sending Rainbow Dash here?" He said, almost choking on his words.

"These have been the best 15 years of my life. So, if anything, I feel quite the opposite; I wish to thank you, Twilight, and the rest of you. Thank you, for what you did, though not intentional. Thank you, for all that came out of this. And finally thank you, for all my years, my life, and my love... with Dashie." He tried to smile at Twilight between the sobs, but she looked on the edge of tears herself as the camera focused on her, and could only look away, before she cried herself.

Celestia stood up. "No need for thanks, good sir. Instead, I wish to thank you, for taking care of one of my little ponies. She would have never made it without someone much like yourself."

Celestia closed her eyes, and then leaned her horn towards him. He didn't move. "Thank you." She said.

Then, another pony spoke up.

"Thank you, sir," Twilight added, finally able to speak through her tears.

"Thank ya," Applejack said.

"Thank you, darling, for caring for our Rainbow Dash," Rarity spoke.

"Um, th-thank you," Fluttershy quietly said.

"THANKS!" Pinkie shouted, as she sprung up to him and hugged the man.

He remained silent as he nodded, then looked back to Dashie, who also wore a smile on her face.

The ponies all returned to Dashie as Twilight's horn began to glow once more.

"Are you ready now, Rainbow?" Twilight asked again, returning to Dashie and starting her magic.

She simply nodded, as she closed her eyes and awaited the inevitable.

The movie continued in slow motion as flashbacks from their memories showed on the screen. From the splashing of the water in the bathtub during bath times, before she showered herself. A flash brought him back to the present, then another flashback where it showed their fails attempts in baking, ending up with the oven exploding and turned themselves black. Another sudden flash brought him back to the present. Then another flashback showed where RD got her cutie mark, by performing the Sonic Rainboom at the empty field when she was finally able to spread her wings.

He stopped flashing back, focusing on his dear adoptive child for one last time as she was never to be seen again. We could see one last tear streaming down from her left eye as Twilight touched her horn on Dashie's forehead.

Then all of them left in a flash of white light. Without a trace. ALL of them.

Colette's cool was at its peek, she gasped, and just burst into a cry, screaming at the top of her lungs. Others followed, one-by-one.

Back to the movie, the heartbroken man stared blankly until another piano riff started playing, this time, specifically belonging to a song called 'If You Only Knew' by the Aviators**.

***Intro piano* (notices something different on walls, gets up, walks around)**

**Fifteen years...living here, (walks around slowly)**

**I never did...face my fear,**

**That one day...you would...have to leave (staring at empty photo frame on wall)**

**Now all the memories we could have made together,**

**Never came to be...**

**If you only knew... (Skips scene, went to Dashie's bedroom)**

**How much I care about you,**

**You'd never...fly away... (sees normal office, all personal things gone)**

**I'll never figure out,**

**Why you thought somehow, (looks around)**

**You had...to leave...**

**If you only knew, (scene at downstairs, walking down, sees album on coffee table)**

**How much I need you... (Walks to album)**

***techno bridge starts* (open album, browses photos of Dashie, sees note)**

_"Dad,_

_For fifteen years you took care of me. For fifteen years you loved me, played with me, and made sure I enjoyed my life in a world not meant to house me. I'm not a mare of many words, but even though I told you this in person, I felt you needed a written version of it so you will know it was all real._

_I love you daddy. You helped shape me into the mare I am now. I'm not sure what is going to happen, if I will remember any of this or not, but I want you to know that you did a darn good job of raising me, even if I was a bit stubborn at times and short with you during others._

_With Celestia's permission, I hope to allow you to keep our photos; our memories, with you so that you will never forget. Again, I love you, and thank you._

_Your little daughter always,_

_Your little Dashie forever,_

_Rainbow Dash."_

**Rainbow Dash, if I could only have you back**

**I wish I could see you once again, and I dream every night of that... (Cries after reading note)**

**Without you I'm not who I'm supposed to be... (Scene skips to porch, looks at car)**

**If only you could listen to these words, (remembers the first time they got the car with RD's suggestion)**

**Without you...it's killing me! (Looks at plates reading: RAINBWDSH)**

**If you only knew... (Aerial heli chase sequence, driving Subaru like rally driver on dirt road)**

**How much I care about you,**

**You'd never...fly away... (Camera pans to mountain, where road leads)**

**I'll never figure out, (parked car at the edge of cliff)**

**Why you thought somehow, (inside cockpit, man staring blankly into sky)**

**You had to leave**

**If you only knew (looks at selfie, printed and pasted onto dashboard)**

**How much I need you (cries, resting head on wheel)**

***outro strings* (drives back home)**

"That was it," the narrator's voice started as he parked in the porch, "she was gone in my life forever. But I couldn't let myself down because of that. I will cherish those fifteen years we had together and move on. I can say that I had redeemed my parents' only wish; which was to be happy. And it was thanks to my little Dashie to help me accomplish that. Thank you, and I will never forget you...my little Dashie."

The cries stopped in the theater, with only Colette the only one left still emotional.

Just before it all ended, a time card that read '2 years later' showed on the screen. The movie fast forwarded his life. The text faded and showed a scene of a cyan Subaru Impreza WRC clearing a jump at what it appeared to be, a rally stage. Spectators cheered on as the car passed, and it switched to a cockpit view, showing the driver and the co-driver holding his pacenotes. We couldn't see their faces, they wore helmets with tinted visors.

A camera at the finish line recorded the rally car crossing it. the car stopped, and the camera circled around it. What I could describe on the machine was it had Dashie's cutie mark all over, the rear doors, the hood, the roof, the side mirrors... Finally, both people in the car came out, closed the door, and when the driver took off his helmet, we were in for a surprise.

He was the Dashie's 'father', he moved on and became a professional driver as Rainbow Dash was also a fan of this motorsport.

An interviewer came to him with a mic and a camera crew. "How does it feel like to win this stage and entering first in points just before the final stage?"

The man who's name was still unknown pulled the mic close to his mouth. "It feels really good, heh, but I couldn't have done it without my co-pilot and of course, my car."

"We have been told that you were going to reveal its name if you were to beat this stage."

"Okay, and for the record, it's a she. Her name is Rainbow Dash. The reason is, she looks so beautiful, where the 'Rainbow' part of the name of her comes from, and she can go really fast, which where the 'Dash' came. She was named after someone, but it's for all of you could figure out for yourselves."

"We've also been told that you entered the championship with your personal car that you use as everyday transportation. Can you tell us why?" That question gave us the idea that he converted his Subaru into a rally machine.

"Well, truth be told, this car contained many memories that I cherished with a person that is really dear to my heart. She inspired me to move on and I became a rally driver because she loved this sport. From the day I bought it, to now, as I make new ones. I even kept the plates and mounted it on the dashboard."

"May we know who that person is?"

"I'm sorry, but, it's kinda too personal to answer."

The camera pans out to both people. "There you have it! I'm Jerry Patterson, we'll see you in the final stage of the 2026 FIA World Rally Championship!" A different camera view records all of them. "And, cut!" The reporter turned to the man. "Thank you sir, it's a pleasure to interview you. See you at the final stage." They shook hands.

The man looked up above the trees to the sky, and saw a rainbow stretch across the forest after a downpour before the stage began. The smile he wore on his face made us knew what he was thinking, Rainbow Dash. He smiled.

An unexpected sight to see, a bright colorful circle beside the rainbow appeared, with a sonic boom heard after it seconds later.

The man frowned and narrowed his eyes to focus on what caught his eye. He knew only one person or pony could do that.

"Dashie?"

"The end"

The credits rolled, with the song playing in the background.

"That was beautiful!" Colette commented, eyes still flooded with tears.

"Sniff...ugh...what time is it?" Asked Thea.

I checked my watch. "It's ten-fifteen...sniff...ugh...time to hit the hay."

"How do you feel?"

"Heartbroken. Which reminds me," I rubbed my eyes, "how's everyone?"

"It felt like losing a child," Hussein replied.

"Tear-jerking," said Geronimo.

"My eyes are still watering..." Trap stated.

"Colette?" I called from behind her.

"I'll be fine," she answered, wiping her eyes.

The lights turned back on and we headed back out. We said our good nights and went to our bedrooms, collapsed as soon as we sat on our beds, and got ready for tomorrow.

I had trouble falling asleep, because I was thinking and comparing my life to the movie. I did sleep eventually.

* * *

**Thursday, August 26, 2013**

**8.15 a.m.**

I was found in the servicing stations in the next morning at the back of the 'cave'. I brought all 16 cars down and cued them up.

It was Phantom's turn to be patched up. I had him parked outside the paint shop.

I strolled around him, but found nothing that needed any attention. Until, I saw his left door. "Wow! Phantom! That's one hell of a scratch you've got there!"

"It was necessary to protect you sir. Plus, I think it's my first battle scar."

I crouched to see his 'wound' with detail. "Battle scar, huh? Well, your carbon fiber panels only covers dents, not scratches. I'll have to give it a respray. And speaking of respray, I think you could use a new paint job."

"I was thinking the same, sir. I think that black and red finishings are getting old for me."

"White and blue finishings it is..."

**10 minutes later...**

With some help of quick-drying paint and not disassembling parts of Phantom, I managed to give him a new look in almost ten minutes. A new personal best.

"You're all done," I said, taking of my facemask.

"Much better," said Phantom, sounding relieved.

It was time for me to replace Anton's and Colette's roofs after they blew it off during that standoff.

I took a few steps to the break space nearby the paint shop to get the cloner off the round table.

I activated it as if it was a phone. I booted up a file manager where it displays all of the cloning files. I typed in the search bar on top:

"Bugatti Targa Top"

In a few spins of the spinning wheel of death, the results show up as two items labeled: Bugatti and Bugatti . I selected them and an option window popped up displaying:

"Clone items?"

With buttons: "yes" and "no", I pressed 'yes' and aimed it to the ground.

* * *

I was done repairing the other cars, and I took Diane to the turntable for simulation mode via cargo elevator near the stair entrance.

I geared up in a full white racing suit with a helmet, and took a ride in simulation at Spa-Francorchamps.

I wanted to release some tension by drifting and burning rubber through Spa's corners. I made enough successful drifts for a couple of laps until something came to my thought during turns 7, 8, and 9. AKA the Les Combes chicane. Something that prevented me from falling asleep last night.

That thought really ruined my focus. I drove too much at the middle during my approach at turn 10, the Bruxelles downward hairpin. I also braked a little to late, but not that late to enter a drift.

As I mentioned, I held Diane a little too much at the center. I knew I was in danger. "C'mon! Stick to the road!" I said, countersteering in the drift.

Nonetheless, saying did nothing.

There was too much understeer and speed. "No, no, no, no!" Like it or not, we drove into the gravel, and more understeer made us crash into a wall of tire stacks.

"Reset to road, beginning of Bruxelles hairpin," I ordered. Diane 'teleported' us back at a few feet before the hairpin so I could gain more speed.

I shifted into first after revving up, doing a burnout at launch. Unfortunately, I did the same mistake. CRASH. Back to the barrier.

"Again," I demanded.

Third attempt, failed.

Fourth attempt, failed.

Fifth attempt, failed.

Sixth attempt, failed.

I held my arms in the air in frustration screaming: "HELVETE!" I banged the wheel with my fists. That was Swedish, by the way.

After another half dozen failed attempts later, I gave up. I took off my helmet, set it on my lap and cross my arms. "Sigh...reset to pit lane." I wondered as a flash of the windscreen took me back to the pit lane. "God, what's happening to me?"

Diane butt in with her sweet and cute voice. In other words, she sounded like Fluttershy. "Mental analysis. After driving: distressed. Before driving: calm. After first two laps: troubled. Something's making you unfocused, sir."

"No duh," I said, matter-of-factly.

Diane broke the brief silence. "You're thinking about them, aren't you?"

By 'them', she meant my family. She was right, I was thinking about them. And comparing my life to the events of My Little Dashie at that moment.

"And now your comparing your life with the events of My Little Dashie," Diane continued.

"Stop reading my mind! I know that you have neuro-connectors in your seats..." Neuro-connectors are actually one of my inventions. They're planted in the seat and connects to your spinal cord every time you sit down. It gathers data of the cars occupants and detects injuries if a crash were to happen.

A knocking on the passenger window sounded from reality. "That was Agent Thea Stilton, sir," Diane informed.

"Let her in..." Diane faded the windscreens to black and unlocked the doors for the to gain access.

She opened the door and sat next to me, shutting it back. She was in her everyday threads, refreshed and smelled like lavender. Diane displayed the simulation environment on her screen again.

Thea breathed in and broke the silence. "I heard you scream 'hell' in Swedish just now," she started. "Go ahead, tell me what's going on."

"Why I screamed was that I failed a half dozen times drifting at Bruxelles hairpin. What made me unfocused then was my sad thoughts. I just couldn't get it out of my head!"

"Talk to me."

I sighed before I spoke. "The things that happened in My Little Dashie kinda reflected what's happening in my life. A sad person who lives a boring life, all alone after family members' deaths. Then that person found the only thing in his life that made him happy after that. Then, fate just takes it all away. That's when I thought; what if fate took you, no, ALL of you away? What would I do? I mean, fate already took Firas away... Like I said, what if you were taken away? What would I do? Sulk?"

"You've already done that twice, Danny. Once when your family past away, the other time when Firas betrayed you... But you're not gonna do that a third time," she squeaked as she looked into my eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm saying that we'll never leave you. Not like them. Just remember, no matter where we are, how far we're separated, I, we, will always be here," she pointed and poked my chest, "...in your heart."

I was really touched. Those words sucked up into me and just made me tear up. "You're the best friend a guy could ever have!" I just lunged to her and gave her a friendly hug.

"D'aww, your welcome!"

"Um...ehem...A-are we ready to continue driving? Diane interrupted again.

I let go of her and put my helmet back on. "Sniff...yeah. Buckle up Thea! I'm gonna drift all the way."

My 'sister' pulled the belt and clicked on the buckle.

I pressed the 'start' button that located behind the gearstick. "Hold on!" I warned as I revved up and shifted into first. It left virtual smoke, tire tracks and a wide grin from inside my helmet as Diane's wheels burned out.

* * *

"I don't wanna run away, but I can't take it, I don't understand..." I was at the central supercomputer with my Beats headphones plunged in on the control panel and turned on a song. I was browsing through photos that I had stored in iCloud (the computer was Mac OS X powered) to be used as a wallpaper. I downloaded them and put them in seperate folders on the desktop.

I've been clicking on and on, previewing each car photo that I had. Nothing really did caught my eye, not even the photo of the Lamborghini Egoista.

I was ready to stop looking for something to replace the Andromeda Galaxy on my desktop. So I closed the folder of my collection of supercars. My eyes followed to where it shrinked, then something got me intrigued. A folder labeled: 'family' under the supercars folder.

I opened it up, displaying a collection of family photos.

It warmed my heart. I clicked and selected all the photos to be previewed. Clicking the 'next' button, memory after memory. The time my mom made muffins with Sarah, the time my dad was restoring his '67 Shelby AC Cobra 427, and the time we selfied during our vacation at Tahiti. (I wasn't sure that selfies existed that time.)

The one photo that warmed my heart the most, was our family photo, taken in front of the fireplace at our old home at Santa Monica Beach, Los Angeles. I wore a smile on my face and sobbed.

I didn't notice Geronimo get on the second swivel chair beside me. He was in his everyday green suit.

"That's one beautiful family you have," he started, looking at my family photo.

I heard him, despite wearing headphones. "Was, G. Was," I corrected.

"You should be grateful that you had them for a while..."

"I did, and still am. Why are you saying this?"

"...for Thea and I never knew our biological parents***."

"Wait, what?" I took off my headphones and turned my chair facing Geronimo.

"We were abandoned at an orphanage when we were just little mouselets. We were adopted by the Stilton family days later. They loved us so dearly, that's why I feel proud and answer this every time someone asks my name: 'my name is Stilton, Geronimo Stilton'."

"So, Trap isn't your real cousin? And Benjamin isn't your real nephew?" He shook his head.

He looked at his sister, who was competing with Trap in a 4D driving simulator. "I was lucky not to be abandoned alone. I'm also lucky to get a sister like her in my life. She's very much like yours from what I've heard." He turned to face me. "You should feel the same as well, because that you had a real family that loved you."

"As should you. At least yours didn't got taken away as horrible as my family did."

"Say, how did they got taken away for the sake of my curiosity?"

"Middle of summer, July 14th, 2011. They wanted to pick me up after the Weapons Expo held at Los Angeles at that day. When they entered the street where I was in a coffee shop awaiting them, visible enough for me, our white family Panamera exploded before they got to where I was."

* * *

**Geronimo's Perspective**

"Pardon me, did you say 'exploding white Panamera?" It got me intrigued as at that date, I was working on an ops protecting a person at that expo when I first joined Interpol.

"Yeah."

"Forgive me for asking so much of you, but, can you please explain to me what actually happened on that day?"

"Let me start from the beginning. It started as a regular summer day..."

* * *

A/N: okay, so? How was this chapter? Leave a review if it's awesome!

_*No such movie was ever uploaded or created. Searching in YouTube will result in disappointment. _

_**Such song and artist does exist. Search with the keywords "If You Only Knew (My Little Dashie Version)"._

_***Source: Geronimo Stilton's book: The Secret World Of Geronimo Stilton. _


	15. Chapter 15-Flashing Back-Part 1

**A/N: We get into a lil bit of history in this chapter. Enjoy the flashback! **

**Disclaimer**

**I don't own anything except the plot, OCs and fictional events. **

* * *

**Chapter 15**

**Flashing Back-Part I**

**Beach House, Santa Monica Beach, Los Angeles**

**Three years ago, July 14, 2011**

**7.28 a.m.**

Despite being in the middle of summer, the whole family had to wake up early for Dad's appearance at this year's Weapons Expo in the city.

I'll tell you what he does; he's a researcher, mainly in weaponry. He invented a firearm cartridge which explodes in midair if it misses it's target, spreading small shots, similar of those to a shotgun shell. It also acts as an armor-piercing incendiary round if it did hit its target.

I was just buttoning up my plaid shirt in my room when Dad shouted my name from downstairs. "Danny! C'mon! We only have half an hour till we get there!"

"Alright! I'm coming down!" I replied.

I checked and patted my pants to see if I missed or forgot anything. Everything was intact, my wallet, my phone, my bag with my laptop, my shades...wait, where were they? "Where are you, shades?" I saw them on my computer desk, fetched them, then hung it on my shirt. Then, I went out and shut the door behind me.

The whole of my family were already downstairs at the garage in the car, awaiting me. I hopped on the backseat of the white Porsche Panamera Turbo and sat beside Sarah. She was still enraged with me because of last night's prank I pulled at her. I tried apologizing, but she repelled and sat at the corner of the door.

Dad reversed out of the garage, and drove straight for the Expo's venue, the Los Angeles Convention Center.

* * *

**LACC, Los Angeles, 8.20 a.m.**

We had reached the expo twenty minutes ago, and it wasn't at all what I had expected.

We were backstage where the company he works with set up their booths and show stage. Before my father's appearance for his presentation, we had been waiting and giving him motivational quotes before he went on stage.

Just before the MC called Dad out to stage, I wanted to confess something. "Um...dad? Can I say something?"

"What is it son?" He sounded nervous, obviously from stage fright.

"This has been great and all, but why doesn't this expo have a lot of gun manufactures?"

"What are you talking about? I saw Winchester's and Remington's booths just now."

"Dad, those are only two of five gun manufactures that showed up here. I saw Beretta, SIG Sauer, and Walther, but I'm getting bored of them! Where's FN Herstal? Heckler &amp; Koch, Glock, Magpul, Colt, ArmaLite?"

"What? The missiles don't interest you? What about the RPG-7?"

"Dad, I'm a fan of guns. Not weapons of mass destruction."

"So? You can't go anywhere, there's no place to hangout!"

"I saw a coffee shop half a block away when we drove here."

"Can you at least stay until my presentation's over?"

"Okay, here's the deal, you said that your company has a website, right? And they said on the home page that they're gonna be live streaming this on their website."

"And what are you planning to do?"

"I'll go to the coffee shop, and watch the live stream on the website via my phone. Plus, I've my laptop, maybe I can watch the live stream from it."

"Fine, just be careful out there, okay? I'll pick you up when the Expo's over."

"Okay..."

"C'mon, give me a hug..." He lunged towards me and hugged me tight. I hugged back. I don't know why for some reason.

"Love ya, Danno," he said, calling me by my second nickname.

"Right back at ya, dad..."

We released our embrace just in time for him to get on stage. "Wish me luck, son!"

"Good luck!" My last words to him before he went on stage. Or ever again in person.

"And here's our main man, please welcome, Hisham 'Roy' Sidik!" said the MC. Yup, that was his name. He likes people to call him 'Roy'.

He gets up on stage, and I was ready to leave. I walked to the backstage door. Before that, Mom and Sarah gave me the family's usual goodbye hug, despite Sarah having a grudge from last night.

The oddest thing happened, Sarah started to cry. As if she was never to see me again. "Hey, what's wrong? Is it because of last night? D'aww, I'm sorry, lil' sis. Don't cry, I'll be only gone for a while, ya hear?" She nodded, trying to hold back her tears.

"See you at four, Danny!" my mother said.

"'Kay, mom!"

* * *

**Starbucks Coffee**

I was hanging out at Starbucks while using their WI-FI to watch Dad's presentation of his invention on live stream.

Sorta.

Okay, I DIDN'T watch the live stream. I set the phone aside while the live stream was turned on while I battled online in Battlefield 3 on my Alienware gaming laptop, sipping my coffee while I clicked on the mouse.

As the live stream went on, I got about 20 kills in the first two minutes after the match started, and it got so much negativity from other players in the match. Some claimed me hacking, some...well...hacking was very much they claimed I was doing.

But, there was one player, a pro like me, praised me for my skills. With voice chat, I told him to meet me at a private room I was going to create.

We met up, introduced each other, and just...talked. His gamer tag was '00Benjy'.

"Where ya from?" I asked ever so informally, like normal gamers would.

"I'm from island a few hundred miles off the Eastern Seaboard. The name I can't tell, you have to figure out for yourself. You?"

"Malaysia, I moved here a few months ago, now I'm waiting for my dad to finish his presentation at the LA Weapons Expo."

"Huh, I'm waiting for my uncle to finish his too."

"Your uncle has a presentation to be done there too?"

"No, no... He's head of security there, although being a rookie agent. He works with Interpol."

"So no wonder there's so many people in black wearing earpieces. Is there an ops going on?"

"I'm not supposed to say. Hey, if we were at the event, where are you?"

"I'm at a coffee shop. Half a block from LACC."

"Strange, I'm at a coffee shop too. Starbucks."

"Hold on a second, Im'ma try tracking down your IP address." I minimized the game and booted up a software for tracking IPs. I tapped in his IP, results show that he was here in the shop. In fact, he was connected to the same WI-FI network as I did.

"Dude, we're in the same coffee shop," I stated.

"So where are you?"

"I'm the guy in plaid and using an Alienware gaming PC."

"I'm at the back of the shop, with a Dell gaming PC."

I lifted my vision from the screen and started eying for him.

He was waving his orange right hand, or paw, then it came to my shock...

That he was a mouse, turquoise eyes, orange an white fur...

I grabbed my equipment and sat at his table, opposite to him. "Surprise, surprise! You're a mouse!"

"Tada!" he said as I settled down and set up.

"You have a lot to explain about yourself. By the way, the name's Danial Arif. But call me Danny." I extended my hand to be shaken.

He shook my hand before his words, or rather, squeaks. "I doubt it because you've surely heard of me, I'm the nephew of Geronimo Stilton."

I was dumbfounded. I thought Geronimo Stilton was fictional.

"Geronimo Stilton? The editor and chief of New Mouse City's most 'fabumouse' newspaper, The Rodent's Gazette? And author of Geronimo Stilton books?"

"Yup..."

"You're Benjamin Stilton! His nephew! It's a great honor to meet you!"

"Back to you!"

We talked and talked and talked... Until it was ten o'clock.

"Hey Danny, if you're up to be an Interpol agent, you can sign up."

"Am I not under aged?"

"Not since last year, we've been accepting junior agents!"

"Wait, we?"

"That's right, I'm Interpol." Then a beep came from his watch.

"There goes the signal, nice meeting ya!" He packed his stuff, left some money on the table and scampered out the coffee shop.

I took a peek at the live stream again. I just couldn't believe my eyes.

The whole convention center was chaotic. People running around, the Interpol agents evacuating the guests, and I saw my father go off stage. Then, the camera zooms in and focuses on a group of five masked men in black carrying guns with their muzzles pointed up, firing them too scare people off.

The man in the middle which I presumed that that was their leader. He was wearing a mask with a lower jaw of a skull printed on it. "WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS HISHAM SIDIK?" he shouted.

It left me aghast.

My iPhone rang in the middle of the chaos. It was Dad.

I immediately picked up. "Dad? What's happening?"

"Danno, stay there! We're coming to pick you up!" He was already in the Panamera, judging by the sound of tire screeches heard in the earpiece.

I hung up and packed up, then waited for them to arrive out at the street. I wore my shades to prevent the excessive sunlight entering my eye.

I saw the Panamera far at the end of the street, drifting into it in fact. I heard the 4.7 liter V8 at full chat, redlining, and shifting into another gear. I decided to call the car's phone.

"Dad, I'm right here!" I said, waving my unoccupied arm.

"I see you Danno, hang tight!"

I saw the car speeding at me, running red lights and avoiding traffic. They were just a quarter klick away, until...

The unthinkable happened.

The Panamera exploded from its fuel tank, flipping vertically on its roof.

"DAAAAD!" I screamed.

The glass shattered as it crashed on its roof, and the fire spreader quickly as if kerosene was poured over it.

If someone came after my family, then they'd probably come after me.

I felt endangered, so I just ran facing the other way as fast as I can, not turning back. I glanced over my shoulder though, with my eyes tearing up. I just saw people gathering at the street near the explosion, and of course, the burning car. The more I stared at it, the more emotional I got. So I turned my head back where I was running, and never looked back.

I saw an entered an alleyway, and hid there.

I was sweating, panting, and tired from running, feeling sad and confused at the same time.

I stood with my hands on my knees, bending down. My mind was racing with thoughts; did I see what I just saw? Why is this happening to me? Why did they have to leave? What am I supposed to do? Where will I go?

I just collapsed on my knees and screamed, ignoring my surroundings. "AAAARRRGGGHHH!"

I cried, feeling ever so sad of my family's departure. I had nowhere to go, no one to comfort me.

Then I thought of a place where I could go.

"Professor..." Yup, the man who created the microchip in my head. Professor Graham Philips.

I got out, checking left and right before that. I ran and jogged my way to where my mind set me to go.

* * *

**Residential Areas, half mile from Caltech**

**Home of Professor Graham Philips**

**11.08 a.m., about an hour later**

I walked the rest of the way to the Professor's house, without hailing any cabs. It was hot because...hello? Summer? I was sweating all the way, so I took off my outer clothes, which was my outer plaid shirt. The white inner shirt was absorbing my excess body fluids like a sponge.

I saw his house, small, homey, two-story and blue painted. It had a mediocre-sized garage where he keeps his fiery red Porsche 911 GT2 RS, which was clearly unseen because the door was closed. Heh, well, he is an inventor and a lecturer.

He lived alone, that's why he bought such a small place. I waked up the home's porch, and knocked on the door. No answer. I knocked the second time, thrice, still no answer.

I turned the knob to see if it's locked. Yup, it was locked shut alright. Which was why he didn't answer. He was busy at Caltech.

So I did what I had to do. Break in. I took out my paper clips from my jeans' pocket which I had already shaped for picking locks. So I proceeded, kneeled down and got picking. Don't criticize, it was a basic and necessary skill to master.

"Almost...got...it!" I murmured. Then...

Click! It was unlocked. I got up, and entered the house.

It was dark inside, the blinds and curtains were all closed up, and major silence filled the house. Nothing but ringing in my ears.

I turned left at the door into the living room, and sat on the Prof's recliner at the corner of the living room. He wouldn't mind because I've done that a few times, and he didn't seem to care.

I spent the rest of the time thinking about what happens next as I waited for the Professor to come home.

**20 minutes later...**

I fell asleep for a few moments, which I had dreamt about the memories of my family. I was awaken by the explosion in my dream. Turned out, it was the roar of a 614 horsepower flat six engine from the Prof's Porsche. He came back home.

Odd, his schedule for the day was filled with lectures. He wasn't supposed to be back by six.

I heard him from outside, walking to the porch as the hard soles of his shoes made a sound like a trotting horse. Then, sound of keys clanging against each other made me thought that he was taking out his keys. He then inserts one into the keyhole, tumblers lifted up, then unlocked the door.

I stayed still however, wanting him to notice himself.

He slowly walked down the hall, carrying his briefcase full of lecture notes.

A little about the Professor, his full name is Professor Graham William Philips. Born in 1973 in London, England , he's 38 years old, the same as my father. He moved to here in his early career days as a technological scientist in the mid-90s where he started to develop the microchip in my head. He had a wife, but she was killed in a car crash. It was between her 5 Series Beemer and and a Ford Explorer. He lived alone since that day and never got remarried. He now lectures students at Caltech after his successful creation, which was me, a year ago. How I would physically describe him, he's tall, standing about six feet eleven, has a semi muscular build despite being middle aged, he's Caucasian, has blonde hair, and no facial hair whatsoever, because he constantly shaves them.

Back to the topic, he took his jacket off a part of his suit, then hangs it on the coat hanger near the stairs in the hall. He then sets his briefcase down at the hall, and went to the kitchen, where he flung open the fridge door to get a glass of milk.

He turned around facing the living room, and finally noticed me. "Danial?" he started with his mild-deep British accent, rushing for me in two big steps. You see, he's the only person in the world who calls me by my name. "Where have you been? I was so worried!" He set the glass of milk down on the coffee table.

He went to check if there were any appendages on me. "Prof, I'm fine."

"Thank goodness..." he went to sit down on the sofa across the room. "How'd you get here?"

"I walked. From LACC."

He raised his eyebrows and slightly gaped. "You WALKED twelve MILES all the way from LACC to here?"

I nodded.

He sighed. "I saw the one-thirty news. Before your father left, he informed me that you weren't at the Expo. I assumed that you weren't in the car. So I had to skip a lecture and went to check your house to see if you were there. It took ten minutes for me to drive from Caltech to there. You weren't, so I came back here."

I started to sob. "What am I supposed to do, Prof? For the first time in my life, they're gone forever!"

The place was quiet until the Professor broke the silence. "Live with me for a while. Once you're ready to move on and possibly go solo, I've a program of that contains all knowledge that will upload itself into your chip."

I nodded again. I couldn't hold the tears, so I just let it out.

He came to me and comforted me as if he was my own father. There was still more room in the recliner, so he sat next to me.

* * *

**Present day**

**Geronimo's Perpective**

My mind just exploded when I heard that he was involved in the LA Weapons Expo incident. When all of it happened, and after his family's death, I investigated their fate. In the agency's database, it didn't mention at all that Hisham Sidik had a son. But rumors around said that he had, and agents in Interpol dubbing him by the name; 'The Missing Son'.

"I was ready to live on my own a few months later, and he uploaded the program into the chip, making me an instant genius, then I worked at Apple. Soon, my name was growing, and made my first game; Fields Of Battle: Black Moon. I became a millionaire and soon after that, multi-billionaire until I am who I am now," he explained.

I leaned closer to him so I could prove that didn't mishear. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help hearing that your father was Hisham Sidik?"

"Yeah. You've heard about him, right?"

I froze. "Will you excuse me for a second?" Without his answer, I race-walked to Thea to talk to her.

She was done beating Trap, and got up from the seat of the driving simulator. "Thea, can I talk to you in private."

"Okay..."

"Follow me to the kitchen." I took normal-paced steps to the kitchen with her following behind me.

We got to behind the counter. "What's this about, G?" she asked.

"Remember the last entanglement between us and that scumbag two years ago?" I'd never thought I'd be so vulgar, I apologize to you all.

Thea put her arms akimbo. "Yeah, LA, 2011. I remember it like it was yesterday, why?"

"Looks like there was one more family member that he missed."

"How? I thought everyone in the car perished in that explosion."

"Because the other one wasn't in the car. He was at the Expo, but left early with his father's permission."

"Who are you talking about?"

"The Missing Son."

"I thought that that was just a rumor."

"The rumors are true, Thea. Hisham Sidik intentionally hid his son's identity and existence to protect him from this."

Thea kept quiet to process what she was hearing.

"Danny told me his backstory just now. He said he was somehow involved in the incident and also mentioned that his father was Hisham Sidik."

"That can't be!"

"It is. Can't you see it Thea? The resemblance? And you said you saw a picture of a man like him when we were at Malaysia. It's all clear now!" Then I announced my conclusion. "Danny was The Missing Son!"

It looked like I took her breath away. She looked back at Danny, arms still akimbo. "How are gonna break the news to him, Geronimo? How are we gonna tell that HE was the one who rigged the car with a block of RDX?"

I paused and sighed. "I hate to break his heart again, seeing what he's been through... But it seems that we don't have any choices, do we?" Thea shook her snout as a response.

"Let's go."

We approached Danny. "Danny, we need to talk," I started.

* * *

A/N: There you go! A lil bit of history for ya! See ya in the next chapter!


	16. Chapter 16-Flashing Back-Part 2

**A/N: Another flashback chapter! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer**

**I own nothing but plot, OCs and fictional events. **

* * *

**Chapter 16**

**Flashing Back-Part II**

**Geronimo's Perspective**

**The Rodent's Gazette building, New Mouse City, Mouse Island**

**1020 hours, July 11, 2011**

**3 days before Expo**

It's been almost a year since my childhood best friend was killed by that fiend. I and the rest of the gang had worked part time as both news hunters at The Rodent's Gazette and as Interpol operatives every time we had a lead on his location. But each time we made a raid, he escapes somehow and walks away. We managed to rank our way up the agency from probationary agents to special agents in a matter of months after we joined.

It was in the middle of another summer, and I've been sitting in my office at The Rodent's Gazette, gathering daily scoops from the internet while Thea scours New Mouse City on her pink Ducati for news.

Benjamin and Pandora was there to accompany me at the office's lounge while awaiting any news from the General Secretariat of Interpol.

I was giving up on searching news either local or international. So I opened up a new tab on the browser and straight to Interpol's website. If Thea was here catching me doing that, she'd explode. She hates it when I involve Interpol in the media business.

Just when I was going to click the 'most wanted' button, Thea shows up from the door, with her pink helmet on. I quickly closed the tab I just opened and it switched to the previous tab. She took off her helmet, approached my desk, and sat on it.

"So, how much have you got?" she asked, referring to the scoops.

I scratched my head. "None. You?"

"Plenty. I just attended the live press conference about one of NMC's cargo ships being sunken at the Ratlantic Ocean. The city's Marine Transportation Department's spokesman said it hit a coral reef."

"Good, we have a statement. What about sports?"

"I went interviewing one of the NMC Squeakers' players at their hotel. He said that his leg injuries were just a minor setback. He'll heal before the team's next game in Vienna, Austria."

"Cheddariffic! Send them to the editorial staff." I then focused my attention at my computer screen.

Thea began to look concerned. "Geronimo? Are you okay? You seem a little bit...unfocused."

"Un-unfocused?" I stuttered. "What are you talking about?"

I knew that she was reading my mind by just looking at my troubled face expression. "You've been at that Most Wanted list at that site again, haven't you?" she squeaked, frowning.

She knew because she's caught me doing it, several times.

"Almost..." I said sheepishly.

"I don't care, Geronimo!" she said, standing up and raising her voice. "The one time I asked you not to go to that site, you disregarded it anyway!"

"I know, Thea... I'm really sorry! But..."

"But what? We've been losing to The Daily Rat ever since he died and we could barely defend our title of New Mouse City's most famouse newspaper! Get a grip, G! I know that you need to catch him but right now, put that aside and focus on what's important!"

She struck my nerve at that sentence.

I stood up. "Don't you dare talk about what's important! I know my priorities!"

"What are they then?"

"Ugh, you don't understand, Thea!"

"I COMPLETELY understand how you're feeling right now-"

"Then why are you interfering me from catching his murderer?!" I've never raised my voice to her in my entire life, this was the first time.

I didn't even notice that our nephew and his friend were there with us.

"Because we need to keep The Rodent's Gazette alive! Our reader count has gone down, Geronimo! We used to have a million of them! Now? Just a few hundred thousand!"

I got up to her snout. "We could climb back up Thea! But the chance of catching him is just once in a lifetime! We miss it, we'll never find him again!"

I didn't even notice the mouselings scampered out during our argument.

"Look, how long did it took Grandpa Shortpaws to make The Rodent's Gazette famouse?!"

"That's not the case, Thea!"

"_Yes_, it IS! Why would you think that there's something more important that The Rodent's Gazette?"

"My friend's murderer is walking free out there and you're saying that that's not important?"

"No!"

"Then why won't you help me, Thea? Ask yourself this, what if Professor de Mousus got killed, huh? I'd abandon all my work just to help you, solve the case and catch the culprit! Why wouldn't you do the same?!"

"I AM! But now I'm doing what's important for _us_, not just me!"

"Same here, Thea! I'm not doing this to avenge him! I'm doing this for the safety of the public! Why don't you try walking a mile in my shoes, Thea! And feel how YOUR paws burn right after, just like what I feel right now!" She didn't have an answer to defend her part of the argument.

I looked away. "If you were really my sister, you'd help me..." I really regretted saying those words.

She gasped and recoiled, taking steps away from me. Her purple eyes immediately teared up and she started sobbing. Her ears turned down. I knew that I had left a scar in her heart.

"Thea, I didn't mean to say that-" I said, tuning my voice down, in hopes of her not being upset, but cut off.

"I have a heart, Geronimo! It's delicate like a silk cloth and you just TORE IT APART!"

"Thea, please..." I tried to grip her wrist but she was quick to yank it away.

"I know how it feels to lose a friend, I DON'T WANT TO LOSE A BROTHER!" She stormed out crying, bumping into the mouselings who were listening to us the whole time from the hallway.

"Thea, wait!" I tried to stop her and reached out my arm out of the office, but she ran fast to her office, slamming the door shut.

I really felt bad about myself. This was the first time I saw her cry, and it was all my fault. I couldn't live with myself knowing that she was upset because of me. I honestly never meant to question our sibling relationship, it just slipped out of my mouth!

I hung my head in shame. "Sigh... What have I done, Benjamin? She's the only sibling I have. And now, I've broken her heart."

"You really shouldn't have said that last sentence, Uncle G," said Benjamin.

"I know, but I didn't mean to! It just...came out of my mouth! I guess I was just speaking my mind...a little too much of it in fact..."

"Let her cool herself down for a moment. Then go cheer her up in a few minutes," Pandora suggested.

I took her advice and decided to cheer her up after 10 minutes.

**10 minutes went by...**

"Hey," I started, opening the door about a crack wide, sticking my snout in. "Would you mind if I came in? I've brought a wheel of cheese as a peace offering."

She sobbed before she could answer. "Is it Brie?" She wiped he tears away.

"Your favorite..." I pushed the door wider so I could come in.

It was pink all over in her office, the walls, her chair, her sofa set she sat on beside the door at the lounge, with the only exception for the floors and desk. The floor was white carpeted, and her desk was wooden with a mahogany vernier finish.

I closed the door with my left unoccupied paw and set the wheel of cheese on a plate on Thea's low coffee table in front of Thea and sat on the same sofa next to her.

"I'm so sorry I acted so rough on you earlier. I should have never brought in our family relationship into the argument. Forgive me."

"I'm sorry too, Geronimo. I should've never been so selfish for the Gazette. You're right, catching him is important. And friends always come first. Either alive or dead."

"I'm flying to Los Angeles tonight. The Secretary General contacted me. He said he received a complaint. The reporter was given a death threat by _him_, if you know who I'm talking about."

"Who did _he_ try to recruit this time?"

"Hisham Sidik, a firearms researcher. He invented a cartridge type that would explode if it misses a nearby target and acts as an explosive incendiary round on impact if it did hit its target," I explained. "_He_ wanted to recruit Hisham to be _his_ weapons inventor so that _they'd_ have more advanced weapons. Hisham declined, and now, he's going to need our protection for the upcoming Weapons Expo in LA and the General Secretariat puts me in charge as head of security. You and the others could sit this one out while I go alone."

"No, I'm coming with you," she insisted.

"Are you sure?"

She put on a faint smile. "Yeah. Siblings always look out for each other's backs."

I smiled back. "Thank you, Thea. A C-130 will pick us up at Angorat International at eight. Don't be late."

* * *

**Angorat International Airport**

**2001 hours**

"Uncle G, why can't we just take the Metamouse?" asked my nephew as all of us approached the aircraft at the runway with our carry ons.

"Because the Metamouse isn't that fast enough to get from here to Los Angeles in a night. This particular aircraft has been modified to fly at longer rages and at faster speeds." I faced Thea, who walked beside Benjamin. "Thea, how fast can the Metamouse fly in passenger jet mode?"

"About five hundred-six hundred knots?"

I turned back to Benjamin. "Not to underestimate the Metamouse but this C-130 on the hand, has extensive use of carbon fiber on its bodywork and uses even more powerful turboprop engines which allows the aircraft to travel at thirteen hundred and eighty knots, enough speed to break the sound barrier but just twenty knots less fast than Russian supersonic prototype fighter jet, the Su-47 Berkut..." I paused because a sudden fear entered my body, "...which I'm beginning to be uncomfortable of after reminding myself."

"Don't worry too much, big bruv," Thea said, reassuring me. "The thing doesn't have any windows, you'll feel like nothing's happening...maybe except for the takeoff and landing,"

We got onboard the Lockheed, strapped in and the doors to the cargo bay closed up.

The plane was taxied to the runway. With the permission to takeoff from flight control, the rotors spun as fast and loud as ever. Takeoff had never been so rough... Soon, we were in the air on our way to Los Angeles.

* * *

**LAX (Los Angeles International Airport)**

**June 12, 2011, 1207 hours**

We were just exiting the airport's parking lot and rode in an Interpol-sponsored Dodge Charger. I didn't want Thea to drive because she speeds over 60 miles an hour, which is too fast for me. So I insisted that I drive.

We approached our hotel building near the venue of the Weapons Expo. All we had to do is to drive straight for a block, after we wait out the traffic light we stopped at.

"Alright," I started, "...at the expo, the guests are mostly of people from militaries from around the world. So we're collaborating with multiple agencies. Also, this is the chance to finally capture him."

"Are you sure that he'll show up?" asked Benjamin.

"He made a death threat against a firearm's researcher lately after he declined his recruitment. He's attending the expo and needs our protection. So I'm sure that there's a huge chance that he'll show up."

The light turned green and I shifted gears, going from N to D. We drove to the hotel and checked in to our rooms, and settled in.

* * *

**Two days later...**

**LA Weapons Expo, LACC**

**0831 hours**

We were disguised as part of the audience of Hisham Sidik's presentation. I wore my black suit for Interpol assignments and I just met NCIS Assistant Director Leon Vance, who was assigned with other agents to protect the guests who attended. We communicate through our earpieces and check in every quarter of an hour for a status update.

"Uncle G, can I leave?" said Benjamin, sitting beside me.

"Leave? Why would you want to leave in the middle of an assignment?"

"It's getting kinda boring..."

"He entrusted us to protect him!" I whispered, a little loudly.

"There's like over a hundred other Interpol agents in here! Pleeeaaase?" He then looks at me with those puppy eyes.

I've never been so guilty.

"Fine. Go to Starbucks, it's a half block away and I'll signal code red on your smart watch in case I need you."

"Sweet! Thanks Uncle G!" He got up and scampered off to the buildings exit.

**Two hours later...**

It was going all so well in the convention center. The presentation ran without any distraction or lag, and everyone was safe. But alas...

That was the problem.

"Looks like _he_ won't be here after all," Thea said from behind me.

"Well, at least the people here are safe-" I was cut off by the sound of gunshots echoing in the main hall, coming from the entrance. Strange, guns weren't allowed to be fired in the main hall. Then I realized...

It was _him_.

"WHERE IS HE?! WHERE IS HISHAM SIDIK?!" demanded the man with the British accent.

I know that voice anywhere. It was fresh in my mind. How he looked like, how he sounded like, how he acted like...but then, he was wearing a scarf with a lower jaw of a skull printed on it.

More shots were fired, scaring the guests and making them scatter for their lives.

I signaled code red on Benjamin's smart watch. "Thea! Go evacuate Sidik and his family! I'll confront him face to face-" I was cut off by an fellow Interpol agent grabbing my shoulder.

"Sir! Sidik and his family has fled on their own! I saw them run into their Panamera!"

That's when my mind clashed decisions. Should I avenge my friend? Or should I protect an innocent person which prevents the world from being in danger?

I knew I had to do the right thing. "Thea, evacuate the guests! I'll go after Sidik and his family!"

"On it!" she obeyed.

I exited the hall through the backstage door and rushed to my car in the open parking lot. I quickly got in, started the engine, and kicked into reverse and then into drive, because I parked the car forwards.

I chased after the family down the street with the distance between us about a quarter click away. We were speeding past traffic and running through lights at about 126 miles an hour.

Just when I was catching up to them, the worst thing that I could possibly imagine happened in a blink of an eye.

The V8 Porsche exploded into orange flames coming from the fuel tank at the back. The force of the explosion was so powerful that it had flipped the car on its roof vertically. Glass shattered during the explosion and when it landed, shrapnel sprayed into my windshield, giving it tiny cracks until I could see what's in front of me. Finally, it dragged along the road a few feet in result of the moving force acting upon the car.

I immediately pulled the handbrake of my car to avoid driving with a damaged windshield. I swerved to the right but kept moving straight because I countersteered quick enough so I couldn't crash to the sidewalk. I stopped at an angle just enough to see the burning white Panamera through the driver window.

I stared blankly at the vehicle getting licked in the blaze, breathing heavily from the adrenaline rush.

I couldn't accept what happened at that moment. Knowing that I've failed to avoid them getting into harm's way just haunted me. I laid my head down on the steering wheel, thinking. I banged the wheel hard with a loud frustrated 'ARRGGHH' uttering out of my mouth...

* * *

A/N: a lil short but we will come back in the present day in the next chapter.


	17. Chapter 17-Missing In Action

**A/N: Its good seeing you back after just a day of publishing 3 chapters at once! Welcome back! We'll be here for another couple of short chapters to end the fanfic. Brought to you by yours truly, ENJOY! Malaysianpro is out!**

**Disclaimer**

**I own nothing except OCs and Plot**

* * *

**Chapter 17**

**Missing In Action**

**Present Day**

"The forensics found traces of RDX explosive on the car and managed to pick up a semi-destroyed cellphone detonator in the aftermath," Geronimo stated. "They studied it detailedly and found the fingerprint of this man. J-Son, could you bring up Interpol's most wanted number five on the screen, please?" J-Son did as requested, and brought up a picture of a man from Interpol's most wanted list, along with his information on the side. He was blonde, had blue eyes and a round nose.

"His name is Brazier Williams, a 36-year old once-respected Englishman. He worked along side with the creator of your microchip, Professor Graham Phillips. He saw the evil he was about to unleash with the chip in Williams. So he kicked him out of Project Superhuman, and got kicked out of Caltech after Professor Philips told the rest."

"Now he resurfaces as the leader of The Technologists with his worldwide army to take back what he claimed is his," he added. He paused before adding another sentence. "He...was also the man who murdered my friend, Professor Charles Edam. He was one of my best friends since my childhood. He was also one of the smartest mice I know. He'd always help me when I'm stuck with homework, especially math. He grew up to be a weapons researcher just like your father and moved to Los Angeles. He secretly developed a missile that has a range so distant, it could circle the Earth twice. Williams discovered about this back in 2010, and wanted to recruit Edam as his weapons developer, like he did to your father. Professor Edam refused, and a death threat was told to him. In the next morning, he died in his S300 Mercedes when it exploded just when he closed the door at his driveway on his way to Caltech. That was why I, we, all became Interpol agents in the first place."

I had tears in my eyes, clenching my fists in anger.

"My dad and your friend died..." I chocked, overwhelming in emotions, "...in the hands of him?"

Geronimo nodded lightly. "If anyone were to blame for what happened to your family at that day, it should be me. I failed as head of security at that day to never keep my eyes off of them and to keep them safe. I'm so, so sorry, Danny. Truly I am."

I covered my face, and wallowed, crying. I couldn't feel anything but pain, it was like my heart just stopped beating. At the same time, anger and hatred grew bigger inside me. Putting me in danger of becoming a Sith.

* * *

**Few hours later...**

I spent the next 4 hours in the afternoon setting up a bunch of training dummies at both the indoor shooting range and the training room with the face of Williams printed on them. It was already four thirty after I finished. I shot them, shotgun-slugged them, trickshot them, rifled them, gunned them, quickscoped them, and even 360 no-scoped them. I was filled with so much hatred, I took an AA12 shotgun and just blasted the face and head off that training dummy with 32 birdshot shells at nearly point blank.

Next, I went to the training room and busted up even more training dummies. I superpunched and superkicked them, elbowed them, uppercut their jaws, even pulled off a horse kick at the chin on one of them.

As a final blow to the last unbroken dummy, I unhooked my long lightsaber hilt from my belt, twisted it thus splitting it in two, holding them upside down, and activated the blades. I came towards it running from a distance, jumped with a scream during airtime, and landed crouching in front of the dummy by crossing my arms and the lightsabers at the dummies throat, decapitating it.

I took a deep breath to not let myself be so uptight. I breathed out and settled down, when Thea stepped in.

"Hey, Danny," she squeaked, leaning against the door sill with her arms crossed. The head of the dummy dropped back to the ground and tumbled around.

Hearing her voice was the only thing at the moment that could douse the flames of my burning heart. So cool, it instantly...I don't want to exaggerate. All I'm saying is that why couldn't she say something to me before?

"Hey," I replied, standing up and deactivating my lightsaber. I turned to face her.

She uncrossed her arms and strolled towards me. "You okay?"

I rejoined the lightsaber halves and twisted it, making it as one. "Now that you're here..."

Thea rolled her eyes, smiling. "You're really skilled with that lightsaber. Can I hold it?"

I handed her, or rather pawed her my lightsaber by the hilt. "Sure..."

She twirled the hilt around like a baton twirler in a marching band. She stopped, turned the plasma blades on and twirled it some more like a bo staff. I had to step back for safety reasons. It whirred in high pitched as she twirled it from left to right, front to back, and above her head. Obviously she had skills.

Finally, she stopped with a stance where her legs bent, and held the hilt with both paws at an angle.

I was like: "Wow!"

"Ho ho! You're not too bad yourself!"

"Thank you," she blushed, retracting the plasma blades of the weapon.

She pawed the weapon back to me. "Who trained you anyway?"

"That's a secret you'll soon find out. Now? Well...it's a secret."

Geronimo unsuspectedly enters the room and interrupted. "Ehem...Thea? Danny? Meeting. In front of the central computer."

We followed him out. Every one was already gathered in front of the computer, awaiting Geronimo to get in front, murmuring.

"Alright! I want everyone to settle down and can I have your attention please!" said Geronimo as soon he climbed up the steps to the central computer. They respected his request and the murmurs slowly faded. "Thank you all for listening. Now, the US Department of Justice found out that we were the ones piloting Danny's cars dangerously on public roads, identified us and demands an explanation from me in person on behalf of you all and the General Secretariat."

"Alone?" asked Geronimo's sister, standing in front of the crowd.

"Yes. The Secretariat himself phoned me himself telling me where to meet up."

"In that case, we're coming with," Hussein volunteered, taking a step forward from the crowd.

"I'm afraid no one can come with me. He strictly said that I need to come alone."

That's when chills started to run down my spine and left goosebumps behind.

I stepped forward to speak up. "In that case, as a friend, I do not permit you not to go."

"Give me one good reason," he demanded.

I came close to him and spoke aloud. "Geronimo, I have a bad feeling about this. Just after you mentioned 'strictly to come alone', I felt a disturbance in the Force."

"To me, mere instincts do not and cannot prove anything."

Thea comes up next to me to speak. "Geronimo, I know that I don't know that much, but I _do_ know that if a Jedi feels a disturbance in the Force, it means that something bad is about to happen! Listen to what your friend is saying!"

"I'm sorry Thea, but my decision is final."

I interjected. "Fine. But on one condition. I'm assigning one of the Ghosts to drop you off at the meeting point and to keep a close eye on you."

"Fine. As a friend, I respect your condition and shall grant it."

"When and where's Banshee supposed to drop you off?"

"Tonight. Eight o'clock, at the Las Vegas Strip, outside The Mirage."

* * *

**Outside The Mirage**

**The Strip, Las Vegas**

**2055 hours**

Our operation to keep Geronimo safe began with us in front of the central computer screen and me sitting on the swivel chair, eagerly watching the live feed from Banshee's bumper cam, dashcam, and side-mirror cam which she pointed to him and zoomed in. She was parked at the side of Spring Mountain Road, a few meters away from Geronimo was standing, avoiding from being seen by suspicious people.

"Five mikes left people, still no sign of anyone to pick you up, Cheezenaber," I began, speaking through a throat mic.

"They'll be here, Eyes, don't worry," he replied full of confidence.

Five minutes gone by, still no sign of who's going to pick him up to the meeting.

"It's been five mikes, Cheesenabber. Still no sign," I said.

"Like I said, they'll show up."

Just moments since our last contact, a black Ford panel van drove past Banshee.

"Be alert, Cheesenabber. Black fourth generation Ford Econoline panel van spotted, heading your way."

"Copy that, Eyes. I have sights on the vehicle."

I zoomed in on the side mirror cam feed and saw the van closed in on Geronimo. "The vans on to you Cheesenabber, IT'S A TRAP! RUN!"

"Roger!" Geronimo started sprinting along the sidewalk as the van zeroed in on him.

"Banshee, ENGAGE!" I signaled.

"Affirmative, sir!" She started her 1000-horsepower engine and burned out into The Strip.

The van was just driving alongside him when I viewed the dashcam. The door opened, his head was bagged, and he was pulled inside the van.

At that point, everyone gasped as they watched in horror.

"CHEESENABBER! DO YOU COPY?" Nothing, just static interference. "CHEESENABBER! DO YOU READ? RESPOND!" Still no reply, his earpiece was either turned off or pulled out of his ear.

"DAMMIT!" I slammed my fist on the control panel. "BANSHEE, ENGAGE!" I demanded, carrying the same message for the second time.

"Engaging, sir!" She floored it and sped after the van.

We all saw the van u-turned at Flamingo Road.

"Don't let him get away, Banshee!"

"Proceeding to u-turn at Flamingo Road."

We kept watching in anxiety as Banshee pulled a donut at the u-turn. As soon as she did, the van was no longer there.

"What in the name of cheese!" Thea exclaimed, coming close to me.

"Sir, the vehicle is no longer in sight! He is officially gone AWOL! I repeat, Cheesenabber is M.I.A.!"

I spoke to the other cars. "CODE, AWOL! ALL CARS DEPLOY! SEARCH FOR CELL SIGNAL, EARPIECE SIGNAL, ANYTHING ASSOCIATED TO GERONIMO STILTON!" They started their engines and drove to the exit tunnel. "SPLIT UP, SEARCH THE WHOLE STRIP! IF NOTHING FOUND, CANVAS AND SCAN THE WHOLE OF LAS VEGAS!"

My final and harsh order; "I WANT HIM FOUND!"

They responded and obeyed as they exited the tunnel with an airtime. "YES SIR!"

* * *

**What will happen to Geronimo? Find out in the next chapter!**


	18. Chapter 18-Saving Geronimo

**A/N: So bros and gals, I'm back with another chapter! Thank you, my amazing mind for thinking hard, letting me finish this chapter in a few days! And also thanks to the fellow authors in the site for helping me provide info of the setting for this chapter. So, let's cut to the chase. This chapter will be the second or third last chapter until the fanfic ends. I hope you enjoy it! Malaysianpro out!**

**Disclaimer**

**I don't own anything but the plot, OCs and anything original I came up within this fanfic. **

* * *

**Chapter 18**

**Saving Geronimo**

**Thea's Perspective**

**August 26, 2013**

**0300 hours**

It was 3 am, the only ones awake then were me, Danny, Hussein and Paulina. We've been up all night, in front of the central computer screen, watching the live feeds from the cars' cameras. With Paulina's help, she help Danny hijacked one of the US military imaging satellites without them noticing. We've been searching Las Vegas for the past few hours ever since Geronimo's kidnapping. Danny's split the cars into 4 squads so we could cover more ground faster. The Bugatti Siblings went to search at the north of Vegas, the Ageras down south, the CCX gang in the west and the Veteran CC gang to the east.

"Sitrep, guys! I want to know what's going on," Danny demanded.

The Bugattis were the first one to report. "Eighty percent of our sector is covered. Still more to places to search for, but still no sign of Agent Stilton."

"Agera Squad, what's happening with you guys?"

"Every inch of our sector has been covered, sir. Unfortunate of us, he's nowhere to be found here," Phantom responded.

"Return to base, you guys are done for the night. CCX Gang, have you found anything?"

Ghoul, the Koenigsegg Trevita, and leader of the west Vegas search party which consisted of 5 cars, replied. "No dice, sir. We've separated to cut through more ground. Yet, there a some places needed to explore. We're trying the best we can."

"Veterans, have you any luck in the east?"

Spook, the Koenigsegg CCGT and the leader of the Veteran Search Squad answered. "No traces of him or the black van whatsoever. We've scanned and searched the whole of our assigned sector. He's not here, I'm afraid."

"In that case, return to base. You've done your best. Remaining search parties, do not stop until you've covered your whole assigned sector! Is that clear?"

They all replied at the same time. "YES SIR!"

I can see the exhausted look in his face when he turned and went to the kitchen, the place I was hanging out with Hussein and Paulina while drinking a mug of joe.

"No hints of him, huh?" I asked calmly and collectively, although knowing the fact that my brother was kidnapped.

He took a seat on the the high stool opposite of me. "You heard 'em…but there's still two more sectors that they still haven't covered."

I felt pity towards him wearing out of fatigue. I only gave him a concerned look and advised him to sleep. "Danny, you should get some sleep."

I predicted his answer, and I was right. "I can't…" Boy, was he stubborn!

"You're a kid, Danny. Kids need sleep." He didn't reply. "Danny, look at yourself. You're tired and worn out! You've been up and running this operation for seven hours straight. The longer you keep this up, your body's gonna go kaput!"

"Look, I know that Geronimo's your friend, but I'm his sister. I want him back safe and sound as bad as you do."

He looked up at me. "You're gonna take over?"

I wore a faint smile. "Yeah. Go get some shut eye. Leave the earpiece here."

He smiled back, and got off the stool and made his way to the boys' bedrooms.

Hussein drank his last sip of coffee from his mug. "Whelp, I'm turning in early. My eyes feel like they're bloodshot. Are they?" He turned and faced Paulina, who sat bedside her. In return, she got spooked as a reaction and repelled with a shriek.

She cooled down and returned her arms on the countertop. "I'm sorry, Agent Hussein. I have to say otherwise."

"Whelp, that's that." He got up from his chair. "See you gals in the break of day, and wake me up if you have anything," he bid with a yawn. Then he slouched his way to bed.

"I'll make sure I try my best not to," I squeaked. He chuckled.

Just when Hussein entered the door, Danny came out after him. He brought out a sleeping bag, a pillow, and a blanket out to the central computer, and set up his 'bed' in front of the control panel, beside the swivel chair.

"Danny? What are you doing out here? I thought you went to bed," I started.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he replied, dropping all of his bedding and raised his arms to emphasize. "Look, I'm not gonna leave you out here alone. Paulina's about to collapse in about an hour."

"He's right," Paulina replied, shrugging.

"I might as well camp out here with you. If you need help, don't hesitate to wake me up."

"I'll do my best not to."

"Heheh… Goodnight…" He lied down on his sleeping bag, rested head on his pillow, and tucked himself under the blanket he brought out. It looked cozy, to be honest.

I finished my last gulp of coffee and rested the mug on the countertop. "Well, Polly…let's get back to searching," I began. She nodded in return, and we both got up and headed for the chairs at the central computer, not forgetting to pick up and wear the earpiece Danny left behind.

* * *

It's been half an hour since we resumed operation. The 'cave' ceiling lights were turned off, with only the lights from the open spaces in the 'cave' and the screen lighting up the place, Paulina fell asleep on her chair faster than Danny predicted, the cars from covered sectors arrived at base, and the remaining cars have completed the search in their sectors, but not even a single trace of Geronimo.

"This is Phantom reporting in to Base. Come in Base," Phantom began.

"This is Base. Go ahead Phantom," I replied professionally.

"A hundred percent of our sector has been canvassed. I'm sorry, Agent Stilton. Your brother is nowhere to be found." I felt a single teardrop running down my cheek. I hoped Pierre had to report something opposite.

Unfortunately, it was never meant to be. "I have the same to report, Agent Stilton," Pierre intervened. "All of our sector is swept clean. I apologize, Agent Stilton. We did the best we could."

At that point, I lost hope. I broke into silent tears, sobbing. "Return to base…over and out…" I quickly took out the earpiece out of my ear and crossed my arms, crying.

I looked at Danny, peacefully having a dream on the floor. I decided to let go of the tension and did the same.

His blanket wasn't covering all of him and he was shivering in the cold. So I crouched and pulled the blanket up until it covered his neck.

I got up and walked to the girls' bedroom with tears and grabbed a pillow and blanket, then worked back out to camp outside with Danny and Paulina.

I laid down next to Danny, staring up at the ceiling blankly with my paws behind my head and interlocking my fingers. I couldn't help but to think how was he doing? Is he hurt or injured? Where was he? All sorts of questions popped in my psyche that I couldn't answer. The worst thought of all: was he alive?

I decided to skip that thought and closed my eyes, only hoping that Geronimo was alright.

* * *

**9.20 a.m.**

We woke up at sunrise to get ready for the day. It felt like normal days in my life, either in an assignment or not. But the only difference was…

Geronimo wasn't here.

I sat in the kitchen, pondering while I propped my head up with my arm by the chin, tapping my nails in a repetitive rhythm on the marble countertop while gazing into it like it was a bottomless trench.

Danny marched in front of me at the other side of the counter, heading for the fridge of a glass of milk. Strangely, he had a glass in each hand. I wondered whom was it for.

Surprisingly, the other one was for me. He slid the glass from across the counter and grabbed a seat opposite of me. "You look horrible, bud. I've never seen you look so down before."

"More than down, Dan. I'm devastated."

"I'm feeling the same thing. But don't worry too much. We'll catch the damn b-tards who did this to us!" He paused to chug some milk down his throat. "We'll teach 'em if they mess with one of us, they mess with all of us!" He held up his glass in front of me. "We do this for Geronimo!"

"For Geronimo…" we had a toast and clanged our glasses together and gulped down the milk.

Paulina scampered to us from the living room with an iPad in her arms. "Guys! We've gotta act fast if we want to save Geronimo!"

"What's going on, Polly?" Danny asked.

"Take a look at this! I was going through CNN's website, watching their live stream. This is what I found. This was uploaded an hour ago." She played a video on the website. No thumbnail, just a dark video window. She played and with the power of my chip, I connected her iPad to the central computer that had Apple TV equipped via Bluetooth and it displayed what was on her iPad. Everyone gathered around and payed attention.

A man whose half his face was covered with a skull-patterned mask filled the center of the display. He left his blue eyes, wide forehead and blond hair exposed. Other than that, he was in full combat gear. A black tactical flack vest with a magazine carrier on his chest. It seems that he was the one holding the camera judging by the distance of his face and the lens. Also, the setting was dark but just a single light shining from above, and as big as a warehouse I would describe it. I couldn't help but recall his face from somewhere, but where? Then I finally remembered…

It was Brazier Williams, from the Weapons Expo.

"Attention to 13-year-old Malaysian, Danial Arif," the man started in his distinctly recognizable British accent. "I want back what's rightfully mine. I've taken hostage of everyone in McCarran International Airport and unless you surrender yourself and the microchip implanted inside your head, we will start executing innocent people every hour past the deadline." He paused to pull his mask down. "You have until sundown before we do so or we will start the execution with your friend here…" He gestured to a second person out of the view. He pointed the camera lens towards a person kneeling down with a bag on his face. The second person Williams gestured to came to the kneeling person out of the darkness and took the bag of his head. We all gasped in disbelief.

It was Geronimo. He was bound and gagged with a strip of silver duct tape over his mouth. Besides that, he was badly beaten up. There were cuts on his cheek probably due to punching at that spot repeatedly.

"GERONIMO!" I called out loud, slowly started to tear up.

Danny frowned. "Oh, you damn little son of a tomcat!"

"Yes, your dear and newfound friend, Agent Geronimo Stilton!" Williams turned the camera lens to Geronimo's face. "You see, I tried asking him nicely about your location but he refused. So I'll try this again." He crouched and positioned the camera with his left arm so they both were in the shot. Williams ripped the tape off Geronimo's mouth, and took out a .50 caliber silver Desert Eagle out of his drop-leg holster. "I'll do this once more. WHERE THE F*** IS HE HIDING AT?"

"GO TO HE-D'AARRRGGHHH!" Geronimo was hit on the left of his forehead with the heavy pistol, making it bleed.

"NOOO!" Thea shouted with her eyes starting to water.

The camera was pointed at Williams' revolting face again. "He's in really deep s*** right now, so don't keep me waiting." That was the last thing we all saw before the video ended.

Murmurs arose and intensified.

Danny and I ran up to in front of the crowd. "Alright, you've seen the video! What we're gonna do now is we suit up, and go rescue Geronimo."

"Do we even have a plan?" Benjamin asked.

"Agent Hussein, Paulina, Thea, and I will come up with one while you guys gear up. J-Son! Lead them to the armory please."

"Yes sir!" He projected some arrows on the floor leading to the armory. "Stick to the arrows, please." They all walked the direction the arrows pointed to. Nothing complicated, the place was just beside the theater.

"We'll join you guys in a bit!" He turned back to us. "Alright, guys. Huddle up." We took the steps and came close to him. "We've no idea which part of the airport he's in. But, I studied the area, calculated the volume of the space, and discovered that the place is big enough for a hangar."

A holographic 3D projection of McCarran International appeared from the floor. I took the chance to state a fact. "But there's over eighteen different hangars along the stretch of this runway. It's over a mile long! How are we supposed to check them all out before sunset?"

"Ah, that's why I have an photo enhancing software." We all turned to the giant screen. He opened a window of the software and inserted the footage to be enhanced. It was the part where Geronimo and Williams gazed each other face to face. He zoomed into the dark background.

"I saw something in this part of the footage. Now, if I just increase the contrast in the background, and…" There was a poster. A picture of a helicopter and a type face reading: 'Sundance Helicopters'. "…there ya go. He's in one of Sundance Helicopters' hangars."

"It's located somewhere here," Paulina emphasized, pointing out where the hangar was in the projection.

"Great, we've got his location. So what's our plan of attack?" said Hussein.

Danny was there to answer that. "Okay, here's how we're gonna do it. First, we infiltrate by driving straight through the gates of here, shooting any Technologists guards in place on the move. Then…"

* * *

**My Perspective**

**Briefing of Operation: On Your Six**

**0940 hours**

As we finished planning for the rescue mission, the others had suited up in black standard issue combat gear and gathered back here in the 'cave'. They came out with all sorts of weapons. Rifles, shotguns, LMGs, even a marksman rifle.

"Whoa! Look at you guys!" I praised.

"I think olive green doesn't suit me well," Colette whined, holding her AA12 shotgun.

"What do you mean? It looks great on you!" Thea interjected.

"Really?"

"Yeah, the black contrasts your light fur."

"Thanks!"

The Thea Sisters and the mouselings impressed me the most; most of them carried heavy ordnance. Nicky and Pamela wielded an M249 and an M60 LMG respectively, Colette as mentioned carried a fully-automatic shotgun, Violet had her paws on a SCAR-H, which goes the same to Trap, Pandora, and Benjamin.

"Okay, now that you guys are done, sit tight while we suit up," I informed.

We just came out of the armory after suiting up, walking in the corridors. Here's what we had equipped:

**Me**

**Clothing: Olive green long-sleeved shirt and cargo pants, earpiece, tactical bulletproof flack vest with magazine holders, combat knife holder on left chest, shoulder and joint pads, gloves with knuckle pads, tactical belt with sidearm ammunition holsters, drop-leg sidearm holster, drop-leg primary ammunition holster, combat boots.**

**Armament: HK416 Carbine with foregrip, infrared laser module, EoTech 552 holo sight, adjustable crane stock, suppressor and extended 60-round quad-stack magazine. Glock 18 machine pistol with suppressor and extended 60-round mags. 6 extra primary magazines, 6 extra sidearm magazines. Double-bladed lightsaber as melee.**

**Thea**

**Clothing: All of the above. In other words, same as mine. Difference, sidearm drop-leg holsters on each leg.**

**Armament: Desert tan FN SCAR-L with same options. Two suppressed Glock 18s (for dual-wielding) with 60-round quad-stack mags, same primary ammunition count, double sidearm ammunition count.**

**Hussein**

**Clothing: All the same with difference in tac vest, pouches for shotgun shells and shell holder on chest.**

**Armament: Remington M870 12 gauge shotgun with adjustable crane stock, Glock 18 machine pistol with 60-round quad-stack mag, 94 extra slug shells, 6 extra sidearm mags.**

**Paulina (Sniper, she impressed me the most)**

**Clothing: Same as above with extra large magazine carriers on tac vest.**

**Armament: Barrett M107 anti-materiel rifle with standard options and suppressor. Suppressed Glock 18 as sidearm. 4 extra .50 cal mags, 6 extra sidearm mags.**

We stepped back into the 'cave'. "Alright, men and mice! Listen up!" The four of us climbed the steps to the central computer. "If we want to save Geronimo, we better do it right!"

"So, what's our plan?" Pandora asked.

"Good question." I paused to display the map of the airport and the enhanced background of the footage on the central computer's screen. "We managed to locate him by this poster we saw in this shot. So Sundance Helicopters' hangars is our objective. But, the problem is that we used the imaging satellite we hijacked and there are Technologists guards everywhere! So, here's what we need to do. We ride pickup trucks I had stored and we'll use 'em to infiltrate the airfield from the gates of Mavericks Helicopters' hangars from South Las Vegas Boulevard because that's the only place that's lightly guarded that we could find. I repeat, Mavericks Helicopters is our point of infiltration. To do that without any detection, we'll have to circle the airport and begin our approach from south of the road. After all that, we drive our way to the north of the airfield to the hangars between Sundance and Mavericks. And if they contact backup, Nicky and Pamela will blast some 7.62 and 5.56 rounds into their faces on the move. Got that you two?" They nodded.

"Now, comes Phase Two. We get off our vehicles at these hangars right here," I pointed them the location at the map, "...because the engine noise could attract attention. We'll split, Wolf Pack will fly over the high fence with some compact jet packs I'm going to give you later, and make your way on foot to the gates of the target hangar and provide a diversion. Meanwhile, the rest of us will run from the inside the airfield to the hangar and begin extraction with Pierre driving over here when everything's all done. Is everything clear at this point?" They all nodded with acknowledgement. "Good. Now, the Wolf Pack. If things get outta hand during the diversion, I want you to call in code FUBAR to me and I will command Phantom and Banshee to provide an airstrike with their roofjets. Do you understand?"

"UNDERSTOOD!" they answered with full of discipline, yelling.

"Any questions?"

Nicky raised her paw. "Yes, Nic?" I attended.

"Um…FUBAR, Danny?" Clearly she or any of the Thea Sisters have never heard of the term before.

Hussein was the one to answer instead. "It's an acronym that stands for eff-ed up beyond all recognition." He smiled for some reason.

"Oh, got it…" She blushed with bright red cheeks.

I turned to Paulina. "Okay, here's your roll Paulina. During extraction, I need you to cover for us from the roof of the hangars. Snipe oncoming enemies if they ever call for backup. I'll give you a jetpack so you can fly up there. Copy?"

"Mmm-hmm…" she acknowledged.

I switched my attention to the crowd. "Okay, remember that we have public hostages being held at the terminals. After we extract Geronimo out, we go to the terminals with the pickup trucks transporting us. Then, we take out all Technologists militants inside and extract all hostages and bring them to safety. We do the same to all terminals. That's Phase Three. And if you see that scumbag Brazier Williams, arrest him. A bonus if he's killed. A double-bonus if he's headshot." We cheered spiritedly, raising our guns in the air. "Alright everyone, here a little bit of optical gear for you all." With the Force, I used it to pick up a box from the armory to here. "These are thermal vision, night vision, and infrared vision combat specs. They have a target-spotting system that helps you spot enemies by displaying a crosshair on the target. Everybody grab one." They have black frames and one-piece turquoise lenses.

I grabbed one myself and put them on. "I just want to say something before we go. He's taken away too much from me. He took my family, he took my friend, and I won't let him take another one of mine and one of yours. So we do this, FOR GERONIMO!"

Then we all shouted with our fists in the air. "FOR GERONIMO!"

"Follow me to your vehicles, troops!"

We proceeded to the back of the 'cave' and a hidden garage door opened up under the window of the parking space. Inside them were pickup trucks.

"Meet the Roughers, guys!"

**Rougher #1, Solidad. Ford F-150 SVT Raptor Super Crew.**

**Rougher #2, Charger. 4-door Dodge Ram SRT-10.**

**Rougher #3, Bull. Ford F-150 SVT Raptor Super Cab.**

I began to introduce them. "This is Solidad, Charger, and Bull. Each engine tuned to emit the power of a thousand horses, each has a top speed of 220 miles an hour, and each can achieve 0 to 60 in four seconds flat. Thea Sisters to Solidad with Pam and Nic on the truck bed with your guns on the roof. Wolf Pack, you guys take Bull and Charger. Pandora, you take the backseat with Colette and Violet. Benjamin and Trap, you guys take the truck bed. Hussein, note that your jetpacks are in the truck beds of Bull and Charger."

I finally made the announcement. "OPERATION ON YOUR SIX IS A GREEN LIGHT!"

Hussein ordered his team to get going. "KASSIM, KHALID, OSMAN, AND AMIR! I WANT THE FOUR OF YOU TO BE MOUNTED GUNNERS ON THE TRUCK BED OF EACH OF OUR VEHICLES! LET'S MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" In his squad, he had two snipers, two scouts, two riflemen and four gunners.

His squad obeyed his orders and climbed on. As soon as everyone was onboard their respective vehicles, we drove off to the exit tunnel after taking the ramp leading to it.

* * *

**Nye County, Nevada**

**1110 hours, 5 hours until sundown**

We've been driving in the desert for an hour since we left the base. The two Ageras and a Bugatti drove behind us as we lead them with the pickups. Whether wasn't really hot like last time, it was cloudy with the chance of a thunderstorm later. I drove while listening to The Chemical Brothers' 'Galvanize' at the moment.

"Obi-Wan, this is Big Smoke," Benjamin radioed from the truck bed. Big Smoke was his codename and Obi-Wan was mine. He chose Big Smoke because he's a big fan of the Grand Theft Auto series.

I kept my eyes on the road as he contacted. "Go ahead, Big Smoke."

"How much longer till we reach the first objective?"

Thea answered instead. "I'd say at 180 miles an hour in another hundred miles, I'd say we'll be there in forty minutes."

"Copy that, Onslaught." Onslaught was Thea's codename.

"Edam, what's your condition?" I was referring to Trap.

"Still burping...erp..." He burped. He ate to much beans before the mission, so he had gas in his stomach.

"It'll go away, hang in there. Outback, Sahara, Hawkeye, what's up with you gals?" I called Nicky, Pamela, and Paulina respectively.

"I'm scoping to see what's up front. Looks like nothing ahead for fifteen hundred meters."

"Copy, Hawkeye." I heard three stomachs growling from the back. "Eiffel, Roach, Dragon, you hungry?" Eiffel was Colette, Roach was Pandora, and Dragon was Violet. "I've got emergency jelly donuts in the middle console, check 'em out." They lunged forward and opened the cover of the console and grabbed a donut each. Even I reached for one myself. "Specters One through Ten, do you read?" The Specters were the Wolf Pack's codename.

"This is Specter One, loud and clear." Specter One was Hussein.

"I don't see you or the other Specters in my mirrors anywhere. What's your twenty?" Thea who sat beside me started to giggle.

"That's because we're in front of you, Obi-Wan..."

I was joking with him. "Oh yeah, that's right. I used to be in front and check my mirrors all the time," I punned. Thea burst into laughter. "Permission to overtake."

"Granted. Go ahead Obi-Wan."

I pulled ahead and took the lead. It stayed that way until we reached McCarren.

* * *

**McCarran International Airport, Mavericks Helicopters' Hangars**

**1205 hours, 4 hours till sundown**

We had arrived at the airport. I had Pierre, Banshee, and Phantom to stay until we need them.

"This is it, Crew! We crash in through those gates and begin Phase One!" I drove straight into the gates. But, four Technologists hostiles were in the way. "Outback! Sahara! Shoot them!" They set their bipods on the roof, took aim and pulled the triggers. As shells dropped and 7.62s and 5.56s left the barrels, the militants panicked, so they didn't return fire. Instead, they went down and bit the dust.

"Great shot! Now hold on!" I floored the throttle and Solidad's supercharged 6 liter V8 went redlining as loud as the engine of a monster truck. We jolted as Solidad accelerated into the gates, battering through them like an angry charging ram. As the pickup hit those steel with wire mesh gates with a clang and much force, the gates came off their hinges and thrown a few feet away.

We took a left towards northeast and to the hangars at the start of Phase Two slowly for minimal engine noise.

Yet, some still spotted us bust in and sent about six troops from the terminals to stop us. "Outback, Sahara, you think you can hit those bogies?"

"Negative, Obi-Wan. They're over a klick away. Our guns don't have that kinda range," stated Pamela.

"You girls can't, but I can," volunteered Paulina.

"Knock 'em dead, Hawkeye."

"Roger that."

Paulina quickly primed her M107, crouched and took aim through the scope. A series of semi-suppressed shots were heard as I looked to my right. She was shooting fast, not taking any time with switching targets. It seemed that she had reflexes like mine. They all went down on the Tarmac in a bloody fate.

"Targets down, Obi-Wan," she confirmed.

"Copy that. Good job, Hawkeye," I praised.

We weren't done yet, a human blockade consisting of Technologists militants were ahead, firing at us. "We're not done yet. More hostiles a quarter klick away. I want Outback and Sahara along with Specters Five through Eight to do a run-and-gun. Drivers of Bull and Charger, drive side-by-side with me so your gunners could get a clear line of fire."

They lined up, ready to take on the blockade. "FIRE!"

All six machine guns fired and shot down the blockade with armor piercing rounds. We drove around their bodies when they died. Why didn't we drive over them you wondered? Hey, we're not as heartless as they are! They're humans too!

"Anymore bogies?" I asked.

"I'm assuming none left. I'm looking around and the specs aren't targeting anything," said Pamela.

"Ammunition?"

"Ammo counter says a hundred seventy rounds left."

"A hundred and seventy two," stated Nicky.

"Specters?" I asked.

"Ten rounds wasted out of two hundred," Specter Five reported.

"Same," said Specter Six.

"Nine rounds gone," Specter Seven checked.

"Five rounds shot," informed Specter Eight.

"Great. Reserve as much as you can. Approaching Drop Zone, ETA five seconds."

We kept driving on the empty tarmac. Nothing but parked planes on our left and baggage trailers scattered around.

We were at the Drop Zone. We parked near the high fence, behind a row of helicopter hangars. We all got off our pickups and ready to approach the main objective on foot. "Okay Specters, we follow the plan. Take a jetpack each from the truck beds, strap into the harnesses and I will teach you how to fly." They took one each out of of the truck beds and wore the jetpacks on themselves. Even Paulina, as we weren't to board the trucks again until Phase Three.

"You got the jammers, Specter One?" I asked.

"I've three on my belt, jamming enemy comlinks...now." He pushed a button on his belt, emitting a 'beep'.

"Okay, the jetpacks have neuro-connectors that connects to your spinal cord and accept commands directly from your mind that I've programed into its commands' database. To activate the thrusters, I just want you to think of 'thrust'."

Hussein obviously had a hard time processing the instructions. "Let me get this straight, so I just say 'thrust' in my head and that'll make me fly?" Hussein questioned.

"Exactly. Do it!"

"Here goes nothing..." He breathed in and let it out. Then, his feet were lifted up a few inches above the tarmac.

"Whoa! It worked! Try it out, Specters!" One by one, everybody did what Specter One did.

"It seems kinda fun," said Specter Two.

"We'll see you guys at the objective," Hussein said.

"Roger that. You guys stay alive, ya hear?"

"We will. Specters! LET'S FLY!" They flew over the fence, landed and proceeded to the objective.

"Okay Crew, let's move," I said to my squad.

We ran the length to the end of the hangars, but our heavy loadout never slowed us down. Scouts Dragon and Eiffel checked to see if our path around the corner was empty and safe to go through. They confirmed as said, and signaled us to move forward.

We stopped when Hussein contacted. "This is Specter One to Obi-Wan, reporting in."

"Go ahead, Specter One."

"What's your twenty?"

"At the side of the row of hangars. Why?"

"Better stop right there. Two hostiles in between the two rows of hangars. They turn their heads back and forth in five second intervals."

"Copy that. Eiffel, go check it out."

She went to peek at the corner but quickly took cover. "Oui! He's right! They just turned their heads here!"

"In that case, stay put, Crew. I'll go handle 'em." I got my hand on my lightsaber hilt.

Thea stopped me by the shoulder. "I'll assist you."

"That won't be necessary, Onslaught. I can Force Speed and do a surprise attack on 'em."

"Be careful."

"I will."

I waited while hiding at the corner until they looked the other way. My Force Speed has a range about fifty meters. Enough to engage and encounter them. They looked away, and that was my chance.

I split my lightsaber first. Then I Force Sped behind them.

I started with a little showing-off. "Hello, boys," I said. They turned around and I activated both sabers, going though their hearts. They thudded at the ground as I deactivated my lightsabers.

"The coast is clear, Crew! Move forward!" I ordered. We proceeded running to the side of the second row of hangars.

We continued sprinting for cover across the empty tarmac. We came across a few randomly parked planes, taking temporary cover as we ran. Pandora kept outrunning us every time we came out of cover, that's why I codenamed her Roach. She can scramble fast like one. We also saw the Specters running from the other side of the fence, giving us a friendly salute that said 'good luck'. I smiled and saluted back.

We were already at a large hangar for a private jet and hid behind its wall for cover. We only had two more hangar-length distances before we reached the objective. "Specter One, I need your twenty."

"You saw me just a second ago, Obi-Wan. I think you already know."

"I know, just needed if you and your team are ready for to start the diversion."

"We're still running...and...oh shoot!" Sounds of dirt being kicked was heard as he paused, most likely he was retreating. "Okay, we were almost spotted. Just give me the call and we'll begin."

"Hold on..." I turned to Violet. "Dragon, do yo thang." She nodded and went to the corner and took out her binoculars. She looked around for one second, and came back. "What do you see?" I asked.

"I spotted five men, full combat gear, armed with British L86A2s, with 60-round STANAG mags equipped."

"Specter One, how many hostiles are at your twenty?"

"Let me take a look," he paused, them he resumed. "Oh damn..."

"So?"

"Fifteen, I repeat, FIF...TEEN randomly stationed hostiles, everywhere! On the hangar roof, the parking lot, the gates... We are definitely outnumbered and looking at a heavily guarded fortress!"

"Okay, just in case, don't be trippin' when I say this. There are five more guys back here. Figured that they'd go to the diversion when you start."

"We are so dead... I'm talking big time."

"Don't say that, it makes it sound like you're giving up hope before you even started. Besides, you've done this kinda thing before, right?"

"As a matter of fact, we haven't. The Wolf Pack only does pursuits, offensive, and defensive driving. This is the first time we're being the Specters."

"Don't back out right now! C'mon, do this for Geronimo...and for Pam." Pam blushed in embarrassment. "And remember when things get hairy, call in code FUBAR. Got it?"

"FUBAR, copy that."

"Alright, diversion is a go."

"Order received. And Pam, if you're hearing this and in case I don't make it out alive...I love you." Pam left a wide grin, and the Thea Sisters got jealous.

"Good luck, Specters."

"Alright, LOCK AND LOAD, BOYS! WE LEAVE AS MEN OR WE DONT LEAVE AT ALL!"

"SIR, YES, SIR!" They replied.

"MOVE OUT!"

* * *

**Hussein's Perspective**

We marched calmly down the parking lot, ready to face the hostiles. "Hey! Stay where you are, all of you!" warned one of them in a thick British accent. He came to us face-to-face, pointing his L86 assault rifle to my face.

I basically acted cool and signaled a closing fist to my team, telling them to stop. "Look, we don't want any trouble here. Just let us through so we rescue the hostage."

"Nice try! Now drop your weapons!"

"Welp, we tried asking nicely." I sweep kicked him to the ground, got back up, and took one shot to his head.

His fellow hostiles just watched in horror as I killed him in cold blood. They froze but quickly prepared to fire. Meanwhile, we took cover behind cars that were parked and prepped our guns. "Smoke 'em, boys," I ordered. We opened fire, and the diversion had begun.

"Obi-Wan, you're clear to go. Diversion has begun," I informed.

"Roger, Specter One. Crew, proceed to objective!"

I just thought of something and I wanted to share it with my teammates through our comlinks. "Specters, remember that this is a diversion. Only use suppressive fire."

* * *

**My Perspective**

"Hold on a minute, Obi-Wan," said Violet, still looking through her binoculars at the corner.

"What's up?"

"They're not leaving..."

"What?"

She came back from the corner. "They're not leaving for the diversion. Take a look." She pawed me her binoculars.

I took a long look. "Hmm...looks like we have to attack as well," I announced. Then I turned to look at the long chain of connected baggage trailers at the end of the first hangar. Plus, there were some more trailers at the side that we could pull to the side to form a bunker if more hostiles came from the side. "We can use those baggage carriers for cover if we engage with them. Agreed?" I looked back and they all nodded. "Hawkeye, fly up to the roof. Help us snipe 'em."

As Paulina flew up to the roof, we continued stealthily to the baggage trailers and crouched to hide there. One of the armed men were just in front of our cover, looking at the opposite direction. Nicky signaled to us that meant that she wanted to stealth-kill the man by strangling him. Or at least it that was what looked like by the way she was pointing to him, then clashed her fist with her other paw, and grabbed her throat. I gave her the green.

She went out of cover silently and approached the armed hostile. She went as close to him as she can. Then, she grabbed the man in a chokehold by the neck and mouth, dragging him back into cover. She kept doing it until he stopped squirming and his body went limp. His body finally gave up and Nicky stopped as well. At the same time, the sounds of fast and suppressed gunfire came from the roof of the hangars. Most probably from Paulina's Glock 18, killing the hostiles up there.

I peeped out of cover, boy, was that a mistake I'll never do again.

One of them were looking towards us, and I thought he almost saw me. "I think that bloke almost spotted me," I said with my Australian accent. Then I confirmed that he did. He shouted for backup and three rounds were shot and hit the metal panels of the trailer. "I stand corrected, he DID spot me."

"Orders, Obi-Wan?" said Thea, readying the weapon in her paws.

"We return fire, Onslaught. Edam, Big Smoke, Roach, pull those trailers here to form a bunker. You guys cover the right. They sounded their alarm, their backup may arrive any minute."

"Wilco, Obi-wan," Trap replied.

Good thing the trailers were empty, otherwise they'd have to struggle to move them. They went back in cover, and ducked down as we had a standoff with The Technologists. "Push 'em! We need to move forward!" I shouted, shooting my HK416 in semi-auto mode.

"Easier said than done, they're suppressing us down!" Pamela squeaked.

"I'll move the trailers with the Force! Shoot while taking cover!" I lifted the chain of trailers and walked forward. They retreated, going back to smaller cover. "It's working!" Just when we advanced, a bullet ricocheted at the side of the trailers. "Abort! Fall back! More hostiles coming from the right!"

The Crew ran back to where Trap, Benjamin, and Pandora were, seeking protection from enemy fire while I moved the trailer back. "Sahara, assist Edam and the mouselings! I'll take care of these guys up front." I radioed Paulina as I aimed. "Hawkeye! What's happening up there?"

"My paws are tied, Obi-Wan!" She paused for some reason. "This guy just won't give up!"

"Are you fighting a sniper?" I shot three rounds. "In hand to hand?"

"Yeah! He can block but he can't hit!"

"There's only one place to hit if you want to drop a man." I fired four more rounds. "If you're desperate, I can tell you!"

"You don't mean..."

"Yes, I do! Now do it 'cause we're being hammered down here!"

"Okay, here goes..." I heard a kick being hit to the...ehem...and her victim squealed in pain as he fell with a thud. "I'm done, what do I need to do?"

"I need you to cover fire for us. See those hostiles coming from the terminals?" I let go three rounds of suppressive fire.

"Yeah."

"My orders are simple. SNIPE 'EM!"

"Roger that..."

* * *

**Paulina's Perspective**

I walked and stood at the edge of the roof, looking over the tarmac and scanning for targets. Fifteen more hostiles approaching The Crew. I got ahold of my Barrett that slung on my shoulder by a strap, grabbed the front end of the magazine with my left paw to use as a foregrip, placed the stock on my shoulder, looked through the scope, and placed my right index finger on the trigger.

Knowing that I got used to sniping while lying down with the bipod stabilizing the gun from the front, I thought I'd try something new.

Shooting off-hand.

Shooting off-hand meant shooting while standing up, almost impossible to do with a high-recoil rifle like the Barrett. But, a video on YouTube I saw proved it can be done. So I thought I'd take example of the shooter in the video and combined his skills with my style.

My trigger finger itched, just waiting for my rangefinder crosshairs to align with the head of my target. It helped when I held my breath so the gun was steady. Then, when I finally have a clear shot, that's when the itching stopped. Which is, when I pulled the trigger.

The head of the hostile popped like a balloon, splattering blood all over the tarmac. The recoil pushed the gun and my shoulder backwards really hard, the amount of gunpowder in that .50 BMG cartridge was really large. But that didn't stop me from quick-scoping more victims, a gaming move that was impossible to execute in the real world.

I pulled off three more quick-scopes to three more heads of Technologists in one second. I reloaded fast as I wasted all ten rounds in that mag, and pulled the charging handle. I then reset my stance, and prepared to shoot, but stopped when a 'stray' bullet flew past my ear.

"Bad news, Obi-Wan. They're shooting at me!" I reported.

"Use the jetpack as your advantage! A moving target is harder to hit!" he advised as ricochets sounded from the earpiece. I knew what he meant: he told me to go airborne.

"I'll try..."

"There's no try! You either do or don't!"

I took his words and it sunk into me. I stayed still, closing my eyes, thinking of thrust. Then, the thrusters activated and hovered me a few inches above the roof. I began tilting my body to move me from side to side, and began scoping.

I pulled the trigger a few times. Some of the shots hit, some of them didn't. "Pull yourself together Polly...you got this..." I said to myself.

I took a deep breath and sighed it out. I scoped another target on the head, aiming the crosshairs to his head. When another head popped off after another trigger pull, I put on a wide smile. Just when I was about to celebrate, a spray of bullets flew by me at Mach 1.5, just missing me by inches. That's when I decided to take it up a notch. It was time to go acrobatic and airborne.

I started with a thrust from the jetpack to do front flip to my right, and quick-scoped another target down after landing on my paws. Another quick thrust made me do a side flip to my left and quick-scoped two more. I took a long thrust in the air to the right so I could make three airborne kills. I then landed to reload a fresh mag, meanwhile Pamela, Trap, Benjamin, and Pandora shot about four more hostiles.

As a finishing move to the final hostile, I jetted back to the left as the world plunged into slow motion, rotated my body in 360 degrees, and fired my M107 from hip level. Another gaming move impossible to do in real life, known as the 360 no-scope. Astonishingly, the full metal jacket made a confirmed and successful kill. To the head.

* * *

**My Perspective**

We were running low on ammo, and we still had three guys to take down. I spent the last few rounds to my second magazine, then reloaded with my third one. "Anybody low on ammo?" I asked, preparing to give some to my squadmates.

"I'm on my last few rounds," Thea replied, shooting three rounds blindly to the enemy. "That's it, my gun's dry!"

"Here!" I threw her one of my spare magazines. She quickly reloaded and resumed shooting.

Much to my dismay, Pandora ran out of primary ammunition as well. "I'm out of primary ammo! Switching to secondary!"

"Argh! We can't hold it much longer!" I exclaimed.

I saw Nicky's M249 at my right being shot at the barrel. She quickly ducked for cover. "He just shot my barrel!"

"Have you got a spare?" I asked.

"Fortunately, thank you instincts!" The twin-tailed mouse grabbed a spare barrel from her belt and replaced the broken one, and continued fighting.

Everyone was low on ammunition, one by one we let our primaries sling on our shoulders and taking our Glocks out. Thea even dual-wielded her Glocks in full auto. I was the only one with one mag in reserve, replacing my empty mag with it.

Finally at the right moment, Paulina reported in. "Your right flank is covered. Shall I assist you on eliminating the hostiles up front?"

Without any hesitations, quickly answered before she could even finish. "Yes, PLEASE!"

As the day turned dark with the black clouds blanketing over Las Vegas, she took three shots to the enemies to end the standoff.

"Good shot, Hawkeye!" I said, looking at her on top of the hangars.

"Don't mention it," she replied.

"I don't mean to rain on your parade, but we're still not done over here!" Hussein butt in harshly as a long sound of gunfire was heard.

"Sitrep, Hussein," I demanded.

"We're low on ammo," he stopped to shoot a spray bullets, "...there's five more guys and most of us are down to our secondaries! We're getting FU..." There was static interference, "...out here!"

"Specter One, I need you to repeat that."

"I'M CALLING IN CODE FUBAR!"

"Code received and accepted. Ageras, launch the airstrike."

"Affirmative. Deploying roofjets," they said with the roofjets emitting sonic booms in the distance.

"Pierre, Roughers, get over here and prepare for extraction."

"ETA 15 seconds," said Pierre.

"ETA 10 seconds," said Solidad.

We saw the jets flew by us as they fired their air-to-ground pod rockets to the parking lot. I even heard a man scream through the earpiece as I was about to contact Hussein. "That screaming I heard better not be from one of us," I said.

"No, we're absolutely fine," he reported in a reassuring tone.

"Okay, Crew. We advance to the objective!"

We ran a distance of seventy meters to the hangar where Geronimo was kept. The Specters joined in time as we sprinted past the gates. Most were carrying their Glocks because they were low on ammo, including Hussein himself. "Good to see you again, Pam," said Hussein to his crush as they ran side by side. Pam did nothing but blush.

"I want all weapons set to semi-auto. Metal walls won't stop stray rounds. And I want night vision active by the time we breach," I ordered as I ran.

The Roughers and Pierre overtook and beat us to the hangar, stopping with screeching tires. We reached the door afterwards, with the Specter One, a fellow rifleman, a sniper, and two scouts running for the door at the far end of the hangar while The Crew and myself went for the first door beside the gates. Both teams stacked up on both sides of the doorway, preparing for breach. Specters Two, Three and two fellow gunners and a sniper remained outside to cover for us, pulling a nearby chain of trailers to the hangar to use as a bunker.

"Obi-Wan, this is Specter One, my team is stacked up and ready for breach," Hussein reported.

"This is Obi-Wan, ready to breach," I continued, conveying the same message.

"Obi-Wan, Specter Six, area secure, no hostiles in sight," he reported as his team of gunners armed with chain-fed machine guns prepped their weapons.

"All teams prepared for breach. Night vision, on. Bring up the C4s," I cued. With the touch of a finger to the frames of our specs, the world turned green for us.

On my team, Thea and I stacked on either side of the door, lining up behind me were Paulina with her sidearm, Trap, Pandora, and Benjamin. Behind Thea were the rest of her students.

Violet who came with the explosive in paw placed it on the door and went back to her place in line.

"C4 planted," reported Violet.

"C4 planted, ready to detonate," Specter Three's voice followed Violet's.

"On my mark, three...two...one..."

BOOM! The door was blasted away in a loud bang and a thin cloud of smoke, hurtling and slamming into the poor guard on the other side, knocking him out cold.

Thea and I stormed in first, firing a fast succession of suppressed shots at the nearby guards. On the hangar's far side, I saw the Specters do the same on their entry point, with the door still hanging weekly on its bottom hinge.

It took us merely ten to forty seconds to subdue and neutralize the ten guards inside. We moved through some tool carts and one of Sundance's Airbus EC-130 parked at the side of the hangar to the single light focused at the center of the hangar. Turned out, Geronimo wasn't there. All that WAS there was a tiny pool of blood which I assumed was from the cut he suffered from being hit by Williams' gun.

"Search the place... Pandora, find the light switch, scavenge as much ammo as we can while we're at it," I said, panting.

She quickly located the switch can flicked on the lights as we started moving loose items in the hangar, hoping for a sight of Geronimo. Specters Four the scout and Five the rifleman went scavenging, while their leader went further into the hangar. We scanned every inch of the hangars explorable space, until we found a small room at the hangar's corner, probably a small management office. I twisted the knob of the door, it seemed unlocked but it won't open. The tumblers were jammed. So I called Thea for assistance from across the hangar. She tried slamming the door with her forearm but it still won't open. I had an idea, and told her to stand back. Then I brought out my lightsaber, activated a single blade and cut out the knob from the whole door. I kicked it and it flew open, but disappointed by the presence of just a desk and a few chairs.

I called everyone to regroup to the center of the hangar. "He's been moved. He's definitely been here before by the looks of the blood," I declared. "How much ammo have you got, Specter Four and Five?"

"Ten bodies, nine of them carried three mags of five point five-six calibers each," Specter Five announced, carrying the drop-leg magazine holsters of the men we shot down in his arm with his teammate. They both dropped them on the floor. "Hey Hussein, look what I found..." He walked to a body of a Technologist guard and lifted a shotgun off it. He walked back and showed and handed it to his superior.

"Whoa, a KSG shotgun! I always wanted to wield one of these. Any shells on him?"

"Lots. Check the pouches on him." He walked away to the body to get more shells.

"Everyone reload and rearm, we don't want our guns to be dry when we begin Phase Three," everyone including me picked up three mags and equipped them in my magazine holders while I struggled to think of where Geronimo might be.

That was when Pandora and Benjamin interrupted when they made a discovery. "Obi-Wan, take a look at this," Benjamin called.

I looked up and turned my head towards him. "What is it, Big Smoke?"

"We found some blood trails leading towards outside the hangar," Pandora continued.

I came close to them, inspecting the tiny drops of blood leading to outside that hangar via the main door. I pulled a cotton swab in a test tube and swiped a sample of the substance. Getting even more intrigued, I pulled the big sliding doors alone from the far end of the hangar to the right. With the momentum going on as it was barely open, Thea came to help and pulled along with me. Made the job very much easier to do.

My eyes followed the trail leading further to the terminals as the Specters outside peered over their shoulders. "New plan!" I proposed, looking back at the Crew behind me. "Get on your vehicles! I'll explain it to you on the move!" We began running to our vehicles. "Onslaught, you're with me in Pierre. Specters, take Bull and Charger. The rest, get on Solidad with Sahara driving. Specter One, hand a jammer to Specter Six and Dragon, each!" My last orders before we hopped onto our vehicles.

We took of in a trail of smoke and tire screeches on the tarmac as we sped to the terminals.

"Pierre, I need you to test this blood sample," I said. He popped out a tray from the middle console with a designated mold so I could put the swab in it. He took it back in and results came in in half a second.

"Blood signature belongs to Special Agent Geronimo Stilton," he announced.

"Scan the signature in the airport area." Results was like a just now, only half a second.

"Ninety-two signatures on the tarmac. They lead to Concourse D. All hostages inside were moved to Terminals One and Two."

"So what now, Obi-Wan?" Hussein said.

"Follow Phase Three. Specter One, you're taking over this Phase. Specters One through Five, you are Echo-One. Go handle Terminal Two and free the hostages. Crew, you guys are Echo-Two. Free hostages in Terminal One. Specters Six through Ten, you're Echo-Three. Go handle Terminal Three. Don't forget to jam their comlinks. Onslaught and I'll go settle the D Gates. Split up!"

They went to their objectives while Thea and I followed the blood trail to the D Gates.

* * *

**Concourse D**

**1430 hours, One and a half hours until sundown**

Just like what Pierre said, the trail led to the D Gates, possibly where Williams kept Geronimo hostage. I parked Pierre in front of the entrance and told him to stay there.

"This is it, Thea. It's do or die time," I said to her, slamming the door shut.

She nodded as a response. "Geronimo, we're coming for you..."

We advanced through the glass doors, navigating around the building. The place was dark and quiet as I could tell, newspapers flying around, property in the building was misplaced and even the shops inside were a mess as a result of the people panicking when The Technologists raided. Seemed to me that it was like a post-apocalyptic ghost town, overran by zombies and we were the only survivors.

The day turned darker as the thick rain clouds covered most of Las Vegas, accompanied by lightning flashes to make the suspense grow bigger. We've covered all of the first floor in fifteen minutes, and decided to circle back to the main entrance to take the escalator near it to second floor, and continue our search there.

As we approached the stationary escalator, we overheard the mumbling of a person from upstairs. I closed my fist to signal a halt to Thea. We listened to what the voice appeared to say: "Well Geronimo, we have two more hours until you meet your fate."

I turned to my partner. She knew what I was about to ask, and responded immediately. "I heard."

We ran up the non-moving escalators towards the voice. We investigated the area, pointing our guns at random places as the sound echoed off random walls as the voice continued: "Looks like your friends and family, your own flesh and blood has abandoned you..." We continued to walk the opposite direction of the escalator, following the confirmed direction of the voice.

Another voice followed the first, and it sounded like Geronimo: "It's because they did it for the sake of the innocent!"

The voices grew louder and louder as we crept silently through the worse wreckage of the second floor. "Oh, did they? Then why haven't they come to save the hostages? Aren't they innocent too? Do you know what I think? I think that Danial isn't actually your real friend. He only left you for the sake his own safety."

"NO!"

"Yes..."

"He wouldn't!"

"How do you know for sure, then?" the first voice said in a higher tone that left a scar in my heart. "How do you know that he's your real friend?"

"Because he acted like one! He tried to stop me when I wanted to go into your trap!" Those words healed the scar, it felt so heartwarming.

"That doesn't prove it! In fact, it doesn't prove anything! You wanted to replace your old friend that I killed with that child so he could fill in that empty spot in your heart!"

"Would you stop saying anymore words? It makes me want to kill you."

"Oh, you could..IF YOU WEREN'T TIED UP!"

We tracked the sound down that sourced from The Centurion Lounge, entering the destruction The Technologists caused from shooting randomly to scare the patrons. Not to mention that the furniture was totally out place.

We moved further inside as we discovered that the voices came from the Premuim Bar.

The first man then said: "It looks like your cavalry won't be coming any soon. Seeing what you've been through, I think I'll do you a favor by putting you out of your misery...forever." I knew what it meant, like any other criminal would say. "Any last words?" I heard a click, like a gun's hammer being thumbed backwards. By then, we stood at the entrance of the bar.

"I know that in his heart somewhere, our friendship will still carry on..." I was shocked when he continued his sentence: "...even of I'm gone."

"Fine, if that's what you believe in..." My heart was pumping fast as my friend's death was upon him. "GOODBYE, GERONIMO STILTON!"

That's when Thea and I chose to storm in and stop him before he could pull the trigger.

"WILLIAMS!" I shouted. He was there, aiming the the Desert Eagle single-handedly to Geronimo's head as he kneeled down, facing his demise with dignity.

* * *

**Will this be the end of Geronimo? Find out in a few days in the next chapter! **


	19. Chapter 19-The Final Showdown

**A/N: I'm really sorry for being late. Welp, it's done. But not yet ending. Enjoy! Warning: Charachter death included. Temporary charachter death. Merry Xmas btw! Although I don't celebrate it... Yeah, yeah, yeah... And a bah humbug to me too. No offense. Please forgive me. **

**Disclaimer**

**I own nothing but plot and OCs. **

* * *

**Chapter 19**

**The Final Showdown**

He was right there, about to pull that trigger made of silver. "Ah, well if it isn't Danial Arif. The boy I wanted to see." The scum turned to Geronimo. "Looks like I was wrong, Stilton," then he turned to us. "Glad that he's alive?" Williams said with a devilish smile.

"Let my brother go, Williams!" Thea ordered.

"Oh, I could." His smile turned into a frown. "But the boy has to surrender to me first!"

"DON'T DO IT, DANNY!" Geronimo advised. Williams gives him another backhand with the Desert Eagle in the forehead with a loud and painful groan.

"GERONIMO!" Thea shouted.

Williams then aims the muzzle on Geronimo's head at point blank. "DROP THE GUN, WILLIAMS!" I yelled as I aimed to his head, taking a small footing forward.

"SURRENDER TO ME AND I WILL LET GO OF YOUR FRIEND!"

"HE SAID DROP IT!" Thea demanded while taking a step forward."

"TAKE ANOTHER STEP AND YOUR BROTHER WILL HAVE A GAPING HOLE THROUGH HIS BRAIN! ONCE MORE, I WANT YOU TO COME WITH ME, DANIAL!"

"NOT A CHANCE!" I replied dissonantly.

"SO BE IT!" He looked back at Geronimo, about to shoot the injured mouse in cold blood.

"NOO!" Thea yelled.

"WAIT!" I stopped him just in time, holding out my left hand as a sign of surrender. "Okay, okay. I give up," I said, setting my carbine rifle on the floor. "Please, just don't hurt him anymore and let him go." I held up both my hands.

Williams pointed the gun at the floor, ready to hand Geronimo to us. He turned to his armed guard behind Geronimo. "Cut his binds."

The masked guard left his L86A1 to sling on his shoulder as he brought out a switchblade out of one of his pouches and crouched behind Geronimo's back, cutting the plastic cuffs that restrained his paws. He rubbed both his wrists in relief while awaiting the guard to cut his legs free.

Geronimo was finally free from his binds, got on his paws, and ran past me towards Thea to hug her.

"I'm so glad to see you again," Thea squeaked into her brother's ear.

"Me too, Thea. I'm so sorry I disregarded you both. I'll never fall for that again," Geronimo replied.

"Are we done with the soap opera?" Williams interrupted the two's tearful reunion. They let go of each other's clutches and turned to Williams. "On to business. I've held my end of the bargain and it's time for you to hold yours."

I started to slowly step forward with my hands up. But before I could even finish my first one, Thea got a hold of my shoulder to stop me. "Don't do it, Danny," she said worriedly.

"I have to. I'm a man of my word," I replied, looking back into her eyes. "I'm sorry..."

Thea loosened her grip and let me march sluggishly towards Williams. "Danny..." she called as her paw slid off my shoulder. I could see with my peripheral vision when I turned, her eyes were flooded with tears and reached her arm for me, but Geronimo held it back. As I took my footsteps to Williams, I heard a tear drop on the carpet with my enhanced hearing, Thea's tear. It hurt me so much when she forcibly had let me go and knowing that I'm leaving her. I was scarred, but I faced my fate with full acceptance.

I was halfway to Williams as he extended his arm to welcome me into his group. "Come on, just a little further," he said. But then, I realized something. It's not over until it's over. You don't just simply surrender when there's still hope. I had to keep fighting until I really have lost the battle.

I stopped a few feet before Williams, letting my arms down. Then I stripped myself off of any gear. I took off my turquoise-tinted specs and threw it on the floor. Next, I unholstered my suppressed Glock and dropped it a few feet next to me. Then I took out my combat knife from its holder, then I threw it towards the wooden wall behind the bar, and it stuck there. Finally, I unzipped my protective tac vest, got it off and flung it away to the glass wall.

I stood still. "What are you doing? And why have you stopped?" He asked.

I replied with full of fighting spirit. "Do you think that I'm really that stupid enough to give up? I just realized something; I'm not gonna go down, WITHOUT A FIGHT!" I then set myself in a fighting stance, challenging him to a hand-to-hand. "C'mon, big boy. One on one. No guns, no help, just us, our fists and feet."

He seemed to look intimidated and hesitated to fight me, but he chose to participate anyway. He dumps his pistol on the ground, then took off his vest, leaving his black tight nylon top. Yet, he stood still like a statue. "What's the matter? Are your hands cuffed?" I challenged.

Ticked off, he charges like an angry bull towards me with a scream. "Just what I thought..."

We engaged in combat. He was to strike first, starting with a charged punch. I ducked and thus dodging the attack and countered with two blows in the abdomen, and a kick to push him away. I reset to my stance as he quickly recovers to launch another attack. Which is, a backwards kick that I managed to block by crossing my arms in front of my face.

He struck his first blow to my nose with a punch, but it barely did any damage. As he was about to throw another one, I quickly grabbed his fist, manipulating his speed and energy to throw him over my shoulder, and onto a table where it broke both Williams' fall and itself. Again, I reset myself to a stance as I waited for him to get up. Believe me when I say that he was one tough guy for a middle-aged person, because he did a martial arts recovery flip right after.

Williams was quick to strike again, this time with swinging a backhand, but dodged by a single backflip to behind a small armchair. I gave it a kick, hurtling towards him, but he kicked it away. Little did he know that it was actually a distraction so could jump to him and attack with a flying right jab. He recoiled, which gave me a chance to do a combo attack. A one-two to the face with a thrust kick to the abs that made him repel, and a flying 360 spin-back kick to the face, sending him flying and crashing into furniture.

* * *

**Thea's Perspective**

The guard saw his boss go down. He dropped his weapon and ran to help Williams. That was when I wanted to keep things fair; a one on one stays a one on one. I quickly reacted, chased after the guard and jumped on him before he could get to Danny. We struggled, and gave me a thrust kick when he flip himself on his back, throwing me in the air. Luckily, I landed on my paws, dragged on the carpeted floor by motion. Then I knew we had another fistfight in our paws.

"Thea! Start a tag team!" Geronimo suggested.

"Got it!" I agreed as I dodged a fist with a backflip.

* * *

**My Perspective**

"I knew you could be beaten by someone younger than you, but a 13 year old? That's just embarrassing," I taunted. In response, he stomped the ground with his fist in anger. Then, I felt something flowing out of my nose. I wiped the fluid to see what it was. "Huh, will you look at that. My nose is bleeding. I think you broke my nose." I touched it to readjust it. "Let me just do this and..." KRAK! "D'ah... Now that's better."

"C'mon old man, show me your moves," I taunted once more. That's when I really set his temper to lava hot, and made him jump back up to his feet.

* * *

**Meanwhile at the now closed Terminal Two...**

"This is Specter One, Echo-One, we're at our objective. Standing by for Phase Three," said Hussein as he hopped out of Charger. "Echo-Two and Echo-Three, report in."

"This is Hawkeye, Specter One, we're at our objective. Standing by," Paulina reported.

"Specter One, this is Specter Six, standing by," Specter Six reported.

"Roger, Hawkeye, Specter Six. Plan your strategies. Turn on thermal vision to spot for hostiles. Report in when your done, and I'll give the signal to go."

"Affirmative," both Paulina and Specter Six said.

Hussein turned to his teammates. "Alright, thermal vision on." He and his teammates touched the frame of their specs twice, and their vision was like that of a snake's.

They saw the heat signatures of two hundred fifty hostages inside, sitting on the floor at the baggage claims. A hundred on the right side, another hundred fifty on the other side. The specs helped them target twenty armed men guarding them, split evenly. Ten on the left, ten on the right. Armed marshals? All dead, lying limp on the terminal floors.

"Twenty hostiles, two hundred fifty hostages including staff, ten to fifteen dead marshals," Khalid, AKA Specter Three, confirmed.

"Got a plan, boss?" asked Kassim, AKA Specter Two.

"Hmm..." he stroked his chin, "...okay, Specter Two, you come with me. We fly over the fence, climb up the ramp at this side of the building," he pointed to his left, "...and stealth kill the guys inside. Specters Three, Four, and Five, you go infiltrate that side of the building," he pointed to his right, "..by that ramp, and I want you to storm the place. Yell to the hostages to duck down, and take out those hostiles. But, keep your firing modes at semi-auto. Got that?"

"Roger that," Khalid responded.

"But our machine guns have barely the accuracy. Are you sure we can pull this off?" Khalid wondered, wielding his suppressed FN M240B medium machine gun.

"I talked to Obi-Wan when we were in the armory. All his guns are researched and developed to shoot at a hundred percent accuracy," he reassured.

"So, you were saying, boss?" said Kassim.

"Oh yeah, and when everything's all done, we hand the hostages out to the cops by the other side of the terminal. Then, we go check out Obi-Wan and Onslaught."

* * *

Meanwhile, group Echo-Two was planning a different strategy. Nicky parked Solidad in front of the lobby that branched to the two gates as the skies darken, and tiny drops of rain started falling from the clouds above.

"Oookay, we've got about four hundred unable-to-escape hostages both local and international in the terminal. All of them on the level one floor of the departures lobby, lined up at the ticket counters and along the terminal all the way," Benjamin indicated, looking through his pair of combat specs in thermal vision. "I gotta say, they've got guts to pull off this stunt, holding the hostages near the glass walls."

"And the specs targeted two dozen hostiles, a dozen guarding the hostages, the other dozen patrolling the area around Burger King, the place where Concourse A and B split up," Nicky stated.

"And a dozen armed airport marshals died, some taken hostage, and a few thousand people managed to fled the scene before The Technologists could hold them hostage," said Pamela as a flash of lightning came from the sky.

"Worst of all, they've taken out a precinct full of Metro PD cops," Benjamin squeaked.

Paulina didn't respond as she hatches a plan while the wind blew her black and long braid of hair. "Here's how we're gonna do it," she started as she turned to her teammates. "I'll fly us up one by one, crashing into the windows of Burger King."

"Won't the sound of breaking glass attract the guards?" Trap wondered.

"It will. But, we will be literally invisible."

"How?"

"Danny had implemented Prof Von Volt's technology of electromagnetic invisibility screens from the Prof's car, Solar, into four points of our tac vests. Each on our sides, and our fronts and backs. So we activate those screens when we crash in. Plus, our specs have night vision."

"That way," Pandora interrupted, "...we can see them and we can see each other, but they can't see us," she explained to her friend who had trouble processing.

"Correct, Pandora," Paulina praised. "When I finish bringing you all up, the guards will pretty sure to check out what's going on. That's when the screens come into play. They cover for us as we pull off stealth kills."

"Slice and dice?" Violet wanted to reconfirm.

"Exactly, Dragon."

"What's next?" Colette asked eagerly.

"Killing all hostiles in sight, we proceed to the main lobby to neutralize more. We split up in two teams of four, each team taking one direction of the lobby. Then, we do more stealth kills on all remaining guards," Paulina explained.

"What's our backup plan if this doesn't work?" Pamela asked.

"Then we go to Plan B. Say that our cover was blown and we were spotted. We storm the place, neutralizing as much waves of hostiles as possible. And with their comlinks jammed, they can't call for backup. But to do such stunt without anymore civilian casualties, make sure all weapons are set to semi-auto firing modes."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Trap asked, sounding unconfident.

"Yes, I'm sure, Edam. We have suppressors, the accuracy of our weapons will surely increase."

"What about me, Hawkeye?" Colette questioned. She was sure her AA12 shotgun was no use.

"I'm sorry, Eiffel. With your shotgun being in a full-automatic state, and with it being loaded with high-spread birdshot shells, I'm afraid I cannot put you in the line of fire. However, because you're now quick and nimble, I want you to go do a close up on the guards while dodging bullets, and slice as much throats with your combat knife. Got that?"

"Roger that, _mon ami_. Wait, what do you mean, 'I'm now quick and nimble?'" she acted as the smile turned into a frown.

"Anyway..." Paulina interjected, avoiding her question. "Once we take out all guards, we identify ourselves as Interpol deputies to the hostages and to the cops outside as we lead them out of the terminal."

"Sounds foolproof," Pamela agreed.

"Me too," Violet supported.

"It's settled," she then turns on her earpiece, "Specter One, this is Hawkeye. Echo-Two has planned for hostage extraction. Standing by and ready to start Phase Three."

"Roger that, Hawkeye. Stand by until I give the go," Hussein responded.

* * *

At Terminal Three, Echo-Three had something simple in mind. "Listen up, men," started Specter Six. "There are two hundred people in that terminal. Some dozen marshals are down and some taken hostage, and we need to bring 'em out into safety. Here's the plan; we fly into there, crashing in through the windows. Then, we split into two teams at the waiting area and I want all of us to just storm the place. Take out all hostiles in sight. When everything's settled, we identify ourselves as Interpol agents to the hostages and the cops as we lead them out. Simple. Is that clear?"

"Affirmative!" His squad responded.

"Specter One, this is Specter Six. Echo-Two's strategies have been planned and is standing by to strike."

"Roger that, Specter Six. Roll call! Echo-One is standing by, ready for Phase Three," said Hussein.

"Echo-Three standing by, ready to carry Phase Three," Paulina reported.

"Echo-Three is standing by, ready for Phase Three green light," Specter Six radioed, carrying the same message.

"This is Specter One, all teams are ready for breach. Remember, weapons are tight." Then Hussein gave the next order. "All jammer operators, jamming enemy comlinks in three, two, one, NOW!" They all pressed the jammer buttons on their belts. "Alright, Echoes. Phase three is a green light. LET'S DO THIS!"

* * *

"Team, let's disappear!" They all located the white buttons placed conveniently on their left shoulders and pushed it to make themselves unseen, and activated night vision. "Edam, you're first."

"A-are you sure? I mean, I realize that I weigh as much as Solidad," Trap stated.

"Yeah. The jetpack's got enough thrust to lift you."

"Alright," Trap agreed as he stepped forward. "But be gentle with my arms."

"I'll try..." Trap positioned himself in front of Paulina, facing the building and looking at the window. Paulina grabbed Trap's arm by the underside behind him. "Edam, I want you to curl up like a furball when I throw you to the window," she said.

"So, the whole point of me going first is because I'm the battering ram?"

"Ee...no. More like a wrecking ball," she corrected.

She inhales deeply and sighs it out. "Okay, on my one. Three, two, one...!" The jetpack gave it all when it and Paulina lifted him with a long grunt about thirteen feet, about to crash through the glass.

"Throwing you in three, two, one! Hyargh!"

Trap hugged his legs, spun vertically in slow motion, knocked the glass and shattered it, tumbling into chairs and tables inside. Dazed and dizzy, he stopped, sitting on the floor as his eyes spun around cartoonish-ly.

"You alright, Edam?" Paulina wondered, still hovering outside the broken window.

Trap raised his index finger. "I'll be..." he shook his head to snap out of the dizziness. "..alright."

"Be alert, they'll be here any second. I'll be back with the rest."

"Wilco!" he replied with a salute. Paulina then flys back down to fetch the rest while Trap removed his knife from its holder as he heard the footsteps of the guards checking around. He crawled against the toppled tables and peeped out. He then readies himself and his weapon by twirling the blade to the bottom of his fist, preparing to attack.

After a while, she flew up with the rest of The Crew, in a chain of two mice on her left arm (occupied by Pam and Nic), and three on her right (held by Violet, Pandora, and Benjamin). She swung them back and forth so two of them could land and pull the other three into the building. Lastly, Paulina hovered inside.

Upon facing Trap who still had the knife in his paw and panting, in front of him were the bodies of five Technologist guards. With an astonished look on everyone's faces, Trap turned around as he noticed his teammates arrival. "Where were you guys?" he started.

"Edam, you stabbed all these people? In ten seconds?" Colette asked with her eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"I'll have to admit, it was hard. Even with the screens turned on." He twirled the weapon with the bloody blade around and stored it back into its holder.

"So we have seven people left to take out outside. And a dozen more at the lobby downstairs. Let's advance!" Paulina commanded.

They crept through what was left of Burger King and made it to the car rental booth in the lobby outside the restaurant. There, seven guards remain to be massacred. Is the word appropriate for the situation?

Seven against eight, they were totally outnumbered. Paulina gave the 'slashing throat' signal. Kill.

"ARGH!"

"D'ORGH!"

"N'URKH"

"N'ARG!"

"D'UGH!"

"MMMRRRGGHH!

"D'ARGH!"

Paulina pulled out her jagged combat knife out of the final guard's neck, and directed her team to continue to the stairs to descend to the ground floor.

"Keep a low profile. Whatever you do, don't get caught," Paulina advised, whispering. She peered down the rails of the stairs, seeing how many people's lives were in her and her team's paws. "Split up. Let's go free some hostages..."

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

"AAAARRRGGGHHH! D'ARGH!" That was the sound of Williams' scream, when he flew across the Lounge and landed hard on another wooden table, breaking it. The cause of that was from a combo uppercut that lifted him and an airborne kick that trusted him away.

We've been fighting for roughly fifteen minutes. We've been using furniture as throwing weapons, using cheat moves, and pulling off advanced kicks and punches such as the spinning hook kick, my special airborne drill punch, and the 720-spinning roundhouse kick to our advantages.

We were both badly beaten up, but I was not injured as bad as Williams. The most noticeable, distinct, and obvious physical wounds on me were the slash along my right arm, when he took the combat knife that I threw away from the bar and used it as his own, the cut on my left cheek from where he constantly punched when he got me pinned, and the cut on the left side of my forehead where Williams slammed my face on the bar.

Williams was in worse condition. A broken and bleeding nose like mine, a slash on the right cheek when I got a hold of my knife from him, a same cut on the forehead when I swung a bar stool into his face, a broken rib, a stubbed toe when he missed-kicked me and hit a chair instead, a bruised shin, a pair of kicked nuts, and a broken fingernail when I crushed it on the bar's countertop with a fire extinguisher.

Meanwhile in the tag team, the guard KO'd Geronimo in the first five minutes when Thea tagged him in. He was combo'd with multiple jabs, and a single uppercut to finish him off. Thea's anger was supercharged, making her strength double to avenge her brother. And boy...did she beat the crap outta him.

Far from being crippled, I continued fighting and reset to a stance. "God, this old man won't give up..." I muttered to myself. Then, I heard a scream from across the lounge, Williams scream. Out of nowhere, a wooden chair came into my face, and I quickly ducked down with a "Whoa!" as it landed with a crash. "C'mon, Danny! You can do this!" I motivated myself.

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

Paulina was engaging with the guard as he noticed her presence. But she was still invisible. He noticed the other guards dropping on the floor, dying of 'no apparent reason'. That's when he suspected that someone was here. He aimed and fired his L86 assault rifle in random directions until he was determined that he hit the invisible person. The hostages were scared of the sound of gunfire, gasping and some screamed in terror. He had no idea that Paulina was actually behind him. The opportunity to strike was wide open, so she took it and stabbed the guard in the neck.

After letting go of the knife and dropping with a thud, she made contact with her squadmates from the edge of the south lobby. "Echo-Three Division Two, this is Hawkeye. Division One has cleared the south lobby of guards, I need to know your progress."

"This is Eiffel, Division Two has eliminated all hostiles at the north lobby, we're ready for hostage extraction," Colette reported from the edge of the north lobby.

"Echo-Three, time to reappear and introduce ourselves."

They all pushed the button on their shoulders to deactivate the screens. The reactions of the hostages upon seeing the mice appear out of nowhere were somewhat creeped out, feared, confused, mind blown, and other mental reactions that I cannot list here.

"Big Smoke, patch my mic into the PA system," Paulina commanded.

He took out his Ben Pad and did what he did best. "Your wireless signal is connected, Hawkeye," the thirteen-year-old informed.

"Copy that," Paulina replied. "Testing, one...two...three... Attention to all individuals! Do not fear! We are Interpol deputies! We are here to rescue you!" she announced. Upon hearing the message, everyone sighed in relief. "People at the north lobby, I need you follow the blonde deputy's instructions and then she and her team will lead you out of here. People on the south lobby, I need you to do the same with me. Then me and my team will lead you out of here."

"Alright everyone, I need you all to form a double-file line right here!" Benjamin instructed.

"Make sure you stick to your families!" Violet advised. The words were said by Colette and Pandora as well.

They all lined up in two lines, each extended to the center entrance. "Now I want you guys to stay put as the deputies and I go get some help from the police." She got off the mic and contacted her teammates again. "Eiffel and Edam, you know what to do. And don't wield your weapons." She turned to Violet. "Dragon, you're coming with me. Outback, you stay with the hostages." she said.

They set their paws out of the terminal with their forepaws up after the sensor-activated doors opened for them. "Don't shoot! We're Interpol deputies!" Paulina shouted to the LVPD officers and SWAT team.

"We're here to free the hostages!" Violet added.

Over at the north, Colette and Trap embedded the same message into their speeches. "Hold your fire! We're Interpol!" Trap shouted as the officers aimed at them.

"We've come to free the hostages!" Colette supported. Then one of the SWAT team members armed with an M4 carbine rifle ran out from behind a SWAT truck to close in on the two. He was the captain as seen on his insignia.

"Where's your superior, agents?" said the SWAT team's captain.

"He's freeing hostages at Terminal Two, capitaine," answered Colette.

"We need six of your men to secure the exit point," Trap requested.

The captain put his mouth near his walkie talkie on his right chest pocket. "Team, I need six men here to cover the entrance for hostage extraction."

"Roger that," one of his teammates replied.

Six men ran out from behind the SWAT truck to the entrance and lined up from on either side of the doorway. "Ask them to stay until we bring them out," said the female mouseling.

The two mice stepped back inside the terminal, signaling the other two for extraction. "Okay, I want everyone to exit through these doors in a calm orderly fashion, and the SWAT team will lead you to safety," Pam instructed.

They proceeded to move out of the building, and two by two, the SWAT covered the hostages by running alongside them in three second intervals to safety.

Back at the south lobby, the same thing happened with no complications.

"Hawkeye, Specter One. Echo-One and Echo-Three has finished rescuing the hostages. I need to know what's going on with you," Hussein contacted.

"Specter One to Hawkeye. Echo-Two has successfully executed Phase Three, the hostages in Terminal One are now safe and sound," Paulina reported.

"Good job, Echo-Two. Echo-One is on the way. Proceed to rendezvous point," Hussein congratulated.

"Echo-Three, proceed to final objective! On to Concourse D!" Paulina commanded, starting to run with her team out to where they started.

They got back to the wreckage of Burger King and jumped out the glass from thirteen feet, extending their arms to the side for balance, and landed with a roll. Paulina was lucky to have my jetpack, she hovered down conveniently and landed on her paws. After all that, they hopped onto Solidad, and rolled to Concourse D.

* * *

**Meanwhile, five minutes just before that...**

Thea and I have been fighting each other's opponents for another seven blood-pumping minutes. With Williams slightly crippled and coughing up blood from being hit in the gut hard, fighting was easier for me because I had the upper advantage. My left arm's muscle tissue was torn, rendering it useless. But, that didn't stop me from battling on. I could still throw punches and swing elbows with my right arm and throw kicks. The glass walls were then shattered out of the loose items in the Lounge being mis-thrown out. In fact, there was no furniture left in The Centurion Lounge in the Premium Bar at all. All that was, was an empty room, just a blank carpeted floor.

On Thea's side of things, she was still engaging the guard, taking the tag team elsewhere in the Lounge. With minor scars and bleeding on the right side of her left forehead, she was still able to fight till only one stands. The guard? Thea beat the hell out of him. He suffered a broken arm, five broken ribs, got kicked in the nuts (thrice), and a broken wrist.

"YOU!" Thea threw a punch in the nose of the guard.

"SHOULD HAVE NOT!" She threw another in the cheek.

"KNOCK OUT!" She made a one-two to the abs, making the guard cough out blood.

"MY BROTHER!" She did the best and one of her most deadliest kicks, the airborne spinning hook kick. Instantly knocking him out.

As a taunt, she held Bruce Lee's Kung Fu stance, jumped around, and wiped her nose. Then, she continued to see me at the Premium Bar.

Meanwhile, Williams was backing off of me, avoiding himself to be hit once again. Reminding myself of what he did to my friends and family, I took the enraged moment to jump, spin 360 degrees around in a counter-clockwise direction, and did a soccer-scoring kick to his face, and landed back on my feet. At the moment, Williams was sent flying again. This time, spinning like a drill. He landed on his back a few feet away with a loud and painful grunt. But, what I did NOT notice, was that the place where he landed was the spot he dumped his silver Desert Eagle. It was slightly out of reach of his right hand.

Taking slow steps to him, I gave him two choices. "You see, Williams...you've got two options here. Either you stop fighting me, live, surrender, face the trials for what you have done to the whole world and especially my family..."

"Or you die...right here...right now."

But he begged to differ. "Or I turn the tables, and kill you instead!"

That was when I saw the gun next to him. I took off in the opposite direction, but not to run away before he could take a shot of me literally. I was running towards Thea so she could throw me my HK416 back to me.

Williams struggled to reach his gun, and at any second he could aim and shoot. I had six meters left, but Thea already threw the carbine rifle over to me as the world plunged into slow motion. I reacted quick and caught the rifle by its two grips, turned around and aimed the muzzle towards Williams head. I saw the beaten up man already pointing the pistol in hand at me as he props his body up with his left elbow. His arm shook as he held the gun, probably because of muscle cramps.

"Put the gun down, Williams. I know we both don't want things to end this way," I warned. But he refused and aimed still. So I tried again. "Gun. Down. Now."

"I will never surrender to any of you. If it means dying, SO BE IT! You'll never take me alive," he said.

There was only one more .50 Action Express cartridge in that gun, already loaded in the chamber. He spent the other six rounds to finish off the Metro PD cops at their precinct back at Terminal 1.

The moment came for him to say his last words, before he pulled the trigger. "GOODBYE, DANIAL ARIF!" he said. Ignoring my warnings and rejected the options, he proceeded to relieve the itch of his trigger finger by pulling it.

The sound and recoil of that gun was ridiculously loud and strong. The explosion nearly popped my ears and the recoil made the gun itself and Williams' arm throw upwards. I saw the speeding bullet whizzed in front of my face as my life began to play in slo-mo, dodging the hollow point bullet to my right, swinging my left arm to the back and my right still aiming the gun. I had my vision at my front, and that was probably the biggest mistake of my life.

After dodging the flying bullet that travelled at Mach 3, I threw my arm back to the foregrip and reset my body to firing position. "Big mistake. Probably the biggest one you'll ever make," I said cool and calmly. But not for long.

"And dodging the bullet will be the biggest and stupidest mistake you've ever made in your life," he replied. That's when I noticed that my worst nightmare has been realized.

"Danny," Thea called from behind me, sounding weak.

The bullet I dodged hit Thea in the abdomen. She was standing from where she threw me the carbine rifle, which was right behind me.

I slowly turned my head around upon hearing her call my name. I saw her freezing in place while looking at her wound, and her face looked like she was about to black out from blood loss. Her vest was intact, though the bullet seemed to penetrate it. Strange, how does hollow point ammunition penetrate armor?

She was loosing her balance, and collapsed to the ground hard with only the carpets there to soften the landing. "THEA!" I yelled as I watched in panic.

I left Williams from gunpoint and ran to her in order to aid her. Five huge steps were took until she was in my reach, and at the fifth step where velocity was in maximum, I slid on the floor with my knees, instantly kneeling by her side. I took her head and set it on my lap.

It was getting dark, as the sun was began to touch the horizon and the clouds have covered the whole of Vegas. The lights on the ceiling began to turn on for the night. Thea was moaning in pain, pushing her head against the floor in vain. I panicked at first, but I cooled down. "Stay with me Thea! Everything's gonna be alright, ya hear?" She was too in pain to respond, but I took it as a yes anyway.

I began to sweat as I proceeded to unzip her vest and take a look at the injury. It was bloody alright, it streamed out like a river, soaking up her olive green shirt. "Oh God, blood's coming out fast. I gotta take out the bullet inside you," I told.

I turned on my X-Ray vision to see what was inside her. The hollow point round banana'd out in her abdomen when it hit her, causing more damage to her internals. I had to take it out quickly because if I don't, she'll die of lead poisoning before she does of blood loss.

I was sweating even more after Thea started coughing up blood as she moaned even louder in suffering. "The hollow point's spread out at the tip deep inside you, I need to close it back up with the Force before I can take it out. This'll hurt a bit, just hold back the pain, okay? I'm sorry..."

I held up my hand over the injury and slowly closed up the tip. Thea was closing her eyes tight, screaming in extreme pain. I could do nothing about it but leave a mental scar that really hurt.

I was sobbing by then. At the same time, my heart pumped adrenalin to every part of my body out of pressure. It was really hard to focus not to hurt her as much as I can with all that happening. "Okay, I've closed up the bullet. Now, I'm gonna take it out of you. This'll hurt even bad, but don't worry. It'll hurt me more that it will to you."

I unloaded an unspent round from the chamber of my HK416, grabbed it while it was in midair and separated the bullet from its casing. "Here, bite this," I said. I neared my hand to her mouth, she opened it wide enough so I could stick it between her upper and lower molar teeth. "In three...two...one..."

I twisted my hand up with three fingers bent and slightly extended, then I slowly pulled it out of her abdomen by moving my hand up. She screamed long and loud, muffled by her almost closed mouth, shutting her eyes as tight as ever to hold back the agony. I couldn't bear to see her suffer, so I closed my eyes, and started to shed tears."I'm sorry, Thea...I'm so sorry..." I said, overwhelming with regret.

The .50 cal was about to come out of the wound, sprouting out like some kind of growth made of lead. Then it finally popped up, all crushed up and crumpled. Thea stopped her screams, panting, and spat out the bullet I gave her. "How does a hollow point penetrate armor?" I wondered aloud.

"That's a smart armor-penetrating hollow point," said the voice in the background. Williams must've overheard my spoken thought. "It penetrates hard surfaces and spreads when hit with a soft surface. I just finished developing it yesterday and tested it on the Metro PD officers back at Terminal-" he was cut off by me, throwing the pistol in his hand to his forehead with the Force, giving it another cut and knocked him unconscious. I've heard enough of his mumbling for one day, so I decided to shut him up.

I turned my attention back to my dying friend slash pretend sister, and moved on with healing her. Her blood was then flowing out like a raging water rapid, in a massive amount. "Now I'm gonna close and fix up your wounds. You'll feel some slight tingling," I informed. I hovered my hand over her wound and started to do a Force Heal. It slowed down the bleeding, but in a sluggish rate. She was growing weaker and weaker by every second of the clock ticked, so I had to heal her fast.

"C'mon, Thea! Don't give up on me!" I motivated her again as a flash of lightning came down along with a loud roar of thunder.

The healing process was going slow, because at some point of pressure I couldn't focus on the Force, especially when I'm frustrated or stressed. I needed to be cool and calm in order to speed up. But the problem was, when the process went slow, I got even more frustrated, so I couldn't get myself to settle down. Unless Thea had the energy to speak.

"C'MON, DAMMIT! HEAL!" I yelled at myself as self-punishment.

I almost lost hope, then once more, my eyes started tearing up. One by one, I felt them rundown my face from each eye. As I slowly healed her, I didn't notice Thea opening her eyes narrowly and starring at me.

"Danny..." she started in her weak voice. I ignored her and tried to pay full attention in patching her up.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon..." I said to myself, tightly shutting my eyes.

"Danny..." she called again, coughing blood out.

"What?" I responded immediately, looking back into her eyes. I never realized that I was still Force Healing her.

"I'm really sorry Danny," she apologized.

"For what?"

"I've failed you Danny...as an agent to protect you..."

"No!" I denied. "You did a wonderful job! To me you were more than an agent; you were and always will be my friend! You care for me, you protected me, and you were always there for me, Thea! You've done so much for me in the past few days..." I paused to hang my head in regret as I started to cry, "...I wish I could do the same to you..."

"Come here," she called. I came closer to her, then she put on a faint smile.

Out of nowhere, my chip commanded to our earpieces to play an emotional piano cover of Phil Collins' 'You'll Be In My Heart'.

Then she started to sing the lyrics as the cover played. "Come stop your crying, it'll be alright. Just take my paw, hold it tight..." She took my hand and gripped it.

"I have protected you, from all around you... I will be here, don't you cry..."

"For one so small, you seem so strong...my arms have held you, kept you safe and warm."

"This bond between us, can't be broken...I will be here," she poked my chest, .."don't you cry..." She wiped my tears away.

"'Cause you'll be in my heart, yes, you'll be in my heart... From this day on, now and forever more..."

I continued the rest; "And you'll be in my heart...no matter what they say...you'll be here in my heart..."

Thea interrupts; "Always..."

She brought my head close to hers and closed our eyes, which brought us to tears as we recalled our memories we had in our minds.

Then it happened.

I felt her hand that pulled my head to hers stopped pulling me in. It went limp. In fact, when I moved a little to check on her, her whole body felt limp.

"Thea?" I called. I moved a little, which made her paw fall on the ground. "Thea?" I called again, in a concerned voice. That was when I decided to check her pulse.

I put two of my left-hand fingers on under the side of her jaw to check her pulse, turned out...

Nothing. She was gone.

The tears flooded in my eyes and blurred my vision. I never knew that the time would come...she died in her line of duty. I started crying over her death as the rain started to fall heavily in a few seconds. "THEAAAAA!" I screamed as the storm clouds shot a bolt of lightning out of the sky.

I mourned for a few minutes before I finally settled down. I set her body down on the floor, crouching as a way of saying our final goodbye.

Williams had been up on his feet the moment I turn my attention to him. He was awake while I was mourning a couple of minutes back. The longer I stare a him, my hatred towards him grew bigger inside me. In the same time, my passion for Thea to avenge her popped in my heart as a little dot. It grew, and from passion, I gained strength. And with strength I gained power. With that power, I believed I could defeat Williams. Or so I thought.

The Dark Side was pulling me away from the Light and into itself, condemning me into becoming a Sith. My eyes turned sulphuric yellow from brown with some bloodshot areas around the iris, my skin turned slightly pale, and I felt that I was possessing powers from the Dark Side.

He was right there, standing across the empty room as we stared at each other eye to eye. Filled up with so much hate, I proceeded with an attempt to kill him.

Entering the Dark Side, I shot up whitish-blue lightning from my fingers of both hands at a power so tremendous and destructive as I supercharged it with my anger and pain, the wind blew like a hurricane and I myself recoiled when it launched out my fingers. But, shockingly the Force Lightning I used didn't seem to fry him to crisp. Even more shocking, Williams was holding up some kind of weapon, a sword, with the blade covering up his face. But it wasn't an ordinary sword from medieval times, but way older. The blade was glowing bright red, whirring. It absorbed the lightning I exerted out, and fell weak.

Williams had a lightsaber of his own.

It made no sense. Only my master and I have the plans to build a lightsaber. "What the hell?" I mumbled to myself.

Williams moved the blade away from his face and let out a sinister laugh. "Ah... How do you like my lightsaber? I built it myself with the help of your friend," he said, waving his saber around. "He was very good at being a mole, I should've thanked him for stealing the plans for me, but since he's captured, maybe not."

I snarled and bared my teeth in anger, putting my powers back at full swing, drew out my saber's hilt from the belt and activated the two blades, which, turned red for some reason. I twirled it around my body, and set in a stance as I held the saber at an angle, preparing to engage Williams in a lightsaber duel.

He acted first by running towards me with a battle cry, holding his lightsaber at his side. I did the same, screaming much louder than him. We got to each other, then engaged our weapons in duel.

Our blades clashed in a bladelock, pushing each other to the opposite direction. We backed off at a short distance, then came my first thrust as he repelled a step. By then, I struck him with a series of strikes, with one thrust after another. The moves just come to my head at a spontaneous rate, fighting without even thinking about the next move. I tried to strike vulnerable targets of his body, but each time the plasma blade nears the said target, he parries my saber away. He backflips away to replenish his energy for his time to strike.

I jumped in front of him as he was thrusting the blade upwards from the side, parrying his attack with my second blade, and front flipped over him, landing behind him on my feet. I took the advantage to strike his unprotected back, but Williams swung his saber over his head to block that attack as if he anticipated it. He twisted his body to face me, then he succeeded to take his turn to make a move. To be honest, he was quite the fencer.

At one point when we fought close to Thea's body, Williams struck me down on the floor, pinning me as one of my saber's blades held him back, while the other almost touched her. I thrust kicked his gut and pushed him away so I could stop him from desecrating my friend's body. He thudded on the carpet and got back up.

I still didn't note at the moment that my right hand was still glowing bluish-white from using the Force Heal.

I propped my body back up with my lightsaber stabbed on the floor. I had a thought all of a sudden, I didn't want our duel to ruin Thea's body physically. Although still cold and wet outside with the sudden thunderstorm going on, I took the decision to take the fight outside.

I glanced at Thea for one last time, then I retracted the blades, and set off to take on Williams.

I found a way to drive Williams out of The Centurion Lounge, and we proceeded to the center of the concourse, and got him cornered at the glass wall facing the runways.

I Force Sped to Williams, pushing him outside, crashing through the glass wall. I continued to do so into the rain and till we reached the runways. I know this is getting old but, out of the light and into the dark. Literally.

I stopped from supersonic to a standstill in no time at all. I grabbed Williams shirt to cushion his speed so he wouldn't crash into the hangars at the speed of sound. He tumbled for another fifty feet from me, grunting each time he bounced off the grass. I turned on my lightsaber to light up our battleground, as Williams' saber alone and the glowing of my hand didn't suffice or satisfy my eyes' hunger for a hint of vision.

As the Rebel's theme played in my head, I stated his crimes against me. "You've killed my family!" I screamed from far, slowly walking to him. "You took my best friend, hurt and killed my newfound ones! Your rain of terror and your life ends...today."

Williams just finished propping himself up with his legs, standing with a stance. The violent hum of his lightsaber filled my ears, calling me forth and signaling that he was ready to engage. I ran up to him, and executed a Saber Throw with a snarl.

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

The Crew had taken off to where I was with Echo-One. In the downpour and dark, Paulina who was behind the wheel turned on Solidad's headlights. Hussein followed her lead behind her, and as the thunder rages through the air, the convoy that drove past Concourse C saw me and Williams fly out of the building and onto the runways.

"Did you see that, Hawkeye?" Nicky asked from the truck bed, drenching herself in the rain with Pamela, Benjamin, and Trap.

"Affirmative," answered Paulina.

"What was that?" Hussein said.

"I've no clue...the only thing I could make out of it was that it's red and long like a lightsaber."

"Are you sure? Thea told us that his was blue," Colette recalled.

"Yeah, no way that could be Danny's," Hussein said in disbelief.

"I'm just saying that that's what I see..." Paulina defended her point. Then she saw my double-bladed sabers activate. "Okay, is it just me, or am hallucinating? I'm seeing a red double-blader being activated fifty feet from the single-blader."

"I'm seeing it in the rain," Benjamin stated from the truckbed.

"Me too," Pamela confirmed.

"No friggin' way! Danny couldn't have turned to the Dark Side! He wouldn't!" Hussein denied.

"If he did, then something bad must've happened. Let's move, full speed!" commanded Paulina.

She downshifted from fourth to third at 4000 rpm, gaining more torque and power at the redline.

* * *

**Geronimo's Perspective**

I had eventually woken up from the knock out I suffered after that uppercut. My vision was slightly blurred, my head was aching, and my jaw felt like it broke although it didn't. After I readjusted my eyesight to focus, I found myself in some part of the Lounge, it was the Computer Bar. I pushed myself up from lying on my back so I could sit. I rubbed my head and jaw to relieve the pain as I pulled on a desktop to prop myself up. Dazed, I lost balance and almost fell. Luckily, I held on to the desk for support.

Groaning while holding my head as it ached, I began moving through the Lounge while holding onto whatever I could that helped me stand in search of Thea. "Thea!" I called aloud.

With no answer, I limped deeper into the Lounge as looked around. "Thea!" I called again.

I didn't give up hope. She was in there somewhere. "Thea!" I shouted, louder and started to sound more concerned.

I scoured every square inch of the place, but still not even a single hint of her. So, I went to look at one of the directories.

I looked and recalled which of the places that I've checked, trying to eliminate them and leave the unchecked place revealed. I've looked at the workspaces, started off at the Computer Bar, scanned the restaurant and Family Lounge, then I realized that there was one place I haven't set paw in.

"The Premium Bar!" I figured.

I made my way, limping, to the deepest part of the Lounge. "Thea!" I yelled.

I made it to the bar, looking around blindly, searching for support so I don't lose my balance. Then I saw her. On the ground, lying down with her vest open, exposing her bloody shirt.

"Oh no," was my response when I saw her. "Thea!"

I gained my balance, and quickly ran to her side. I nearly panicked, but I remembered my training from when I first joined the agency. I checked her pulse at her neck, but not even a beat from her heart.

"No, no, no, no, no!" I started doing CPR. I pressed my two paws repeatedly on her chest about five times, counting them out. I was forced to do mouth to mouth for her sake, and I kept doing that every five times I pressed her chest. Okay, I know it's awkward but wouldn't you do the same if you were in this situation?

"C'mon, don't give up on me! Three, four, five..." I said, diving in for another mouth to mouth.

Just after that, I saw her earpiece still stuffed inside her ear. Clearly she and Danny had came with someone else. So I took it out and wore it on my ear.

"This is Interpol Special Agent Geronimo Stilton, is anyone out there?" I spoke as I did more CPR.

"Geronimo? Is that you?" responded a familiar voice.

"Agent Hussein! It's me!" I clarified. "I need backup and a defibrillator over here! I have a ten fifty-three! I repeat, Thea has been shot!"

"What's your twenty?"

I was just coming up from mouth to mouth. "Concourse D, The Centurion Lounge, in the Premium Bar! One, two, three..."

"Hang tight! We're in level one! We're coming right up!"

I kept doing the procedure until they showed up at the door a few moments later.

"G, we're here!" Hussein said. In my heart I was sighing in relief. "Pandora! Get the defibrillator!" She came running through the doorway with the portable automated external defibrillator in her paw. The others followed behind her and circled around.

She kneeled down at the other side as I still pressed down Thea's chest repeatedly. She held the little electrode pads in her paws. She placed one pad under the shirt on Thea's left side and the other into her collar and above her right chest. "Charge, one hundred," she announced as the defibrillator charged up the pads with electricity. "Charged, three, two, one, CLEAR!" The device discharged the electricity down Thea's body, making it slightly jolt to the contraction of her muscles.

The monitor was still flatlining, and Pandora instructed me to do CPR again. "Charge, two hundred."

I pressed Thea's chest for another five times, then the defibrillator charged up. I let go of her chest as Pandora starts the countdown. "Three, two, one, CLEAR! Still no pulse.

We repeated the procedure for another four minutes, and with the charge up to 500. But Thea still showed no signs of life.

Pandora shook her snout after we discharged the electricity up to 500. She lost hope, teared up and sobbed. "I'm sorry Geronimo. She's gone."

I didn't want to accept the fate, but there was nothing I can do to change it. She was now gone, and I'm left alone.

I couldn't contain the tears, so I just let it out slowly, pulling her corpse onto my lap. I laid my head on hers, crying over the tragic loss of my sister.

Everyone on the scene took a moment of silence to mourn. Benjamin came to Pandora's side to comfort her although he himself cried, the Thea Sisters huddled and cried facing each other, and the Wolf Pack and Trap only hung their heads.

* * *

**My Perspective**

All my anger that powered my ability to Force Heal Thea channeled out my hand, and let it out in a Dark Rage. I had to use the power because I was losing to Williams at the moment.

The lightning flashes from above and thunders raged. "HAHAHAHAHA!" Williams laughed sinisterly after kicking me away as part of his defense.

I growled, letting the rage empower me. I sped to him, releasing another frenzy of stabs and thrusts. But he blocked and parried every attack I threw at him. The Dark Rage only lasted for a few seconds, and it sapped all of my energy when it went away. I backfliped away in reflex so Williams couldn't strike, and gave me a chance to reenergize.

"LOOK AT YOU, BOY, YOU ARE WEAK! If you were a real Jedi, you would have defeated me by now," he challenged. My aggression was over its crescendo. I had my sight on a small Cessna 172 near the runway just behind Williams, picked it up with telekinesis and threw the plane at him. The left wing was supposed to hit him. But, my plan backfired. As if he was expecting it, he turned his back on me and sliced the wing off. The rest of the plane sped past him, and the sliced wing hurtled toward me like a bat out of hell, hitting me in the face.

I was dragged a few feet away with the wing on top of me, onto the tarmac runway. I lifted the wing and put it aside, pushing myself back up.

He came walking slowly to me. "Join me, boy, and conquer the world with me. Or, you suffer the same fate as your friend," he proposed, pointing the edge of his saber's blade at me.

Obviously, I rejected the first option. "NEVER! I will never join you!"

"Very well then..." Another shocker for me as he shot light purple lightning out of his glove. I quickly put my lightsaber in front of me and absorbed the five second electric charge.

"No! You couldn't be!" I denied. I thought that he was a Sith Lord.

"No, of course I'm not a Sith!" he replied. "The lightning was from my gloves, they harness static electricity from the ground and I can release it in a catastrophic form anytime I want by just thinking it!" He released more of it to me just to show off, and it was strong. I was pushed away while my saber absorbed every part of it when he shot me with some. "Heheh, this is kind of fun!" He stated, shooting me with more lightning.

His taunt made me enraged, and powered with it, I Force Repulsed as a reflex to make him back off. I ran in his direction as he recovers, performing a Saber Throw as I Force Jumped. He made a flip on his feet, and the flying lightsaber collided with his as he blocked. While in the air, I caught my saber and held it up for it to slice Williams in half. I landed with my blade striking his, and so we engaged in another bladelock.

"Why are you doing this to me?!" I interrogated as the clashing sound of our lightsabers stuffed our ears.

"You stole something from me! And I want it back!"

We backed off each other and started walking in circles as we argued. "What could I have possibly stolen from you, huh? TELL ME!" I yelled.

"YOU TOOK THE CHIP FROM ME!"

"That makes no sense! THE FRIGGIN' CHIP DOESN'T EVEN BELONG TO YOU!"

"You just don't get it do you? I WAS THE ONE WHO CREATED THAT BLOODY CHIP!" he claimed as he hit his chest. Then another lightning bolt struck that came along with thunder.

"What?" I reacted in disbelief.

"I was the original creator back in 1991, Philips and I spent the next fifteen years perfecting it, then he kicked me out of Project Superhuman when he found out about the feature I added and claimed the credit to himself."

"The EMP..."

"Yes, the EMP. The I was going to mass produce that chip and implant them in the brains of the soldiers of the British Army. The EMP was supposed to put to use when the Army landed in the States, putting their weapons to no use."

"You want to start the whole American Revolutionary War all over again? YOU'RE CRAZY!"

"In the name of the Queen, I'D DO ANYTHING TO RECLAIM WHAT WE LOST IN THAT WAR! The Americans may have won two centuries ago, but this time, WE, THE BRITISH WILL!"

"YOU WANT TO BRING SOMETHING UP FROM TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO? HAVEN'T YOU EVER HEARD OF THE EXPRESSION LEAVE THE PAST BEHIND?"

"Haven't you, Danial? You seem to bring up your family to this fight to avenge them..."

My anger was at its melting point as he crossed the line. I snarled. "R'ARRGGHH!" I unleashed my supercharged fury by letting out a Force Storm out of my ten fingers, a stronger variant of the Force Lightning. At the same time, Williams too did the same move, and our powers battled at the center. The wind blew stronger as if we were at the middle of the ocean facing a whirlpool, the whole stretch of runway lit up by the lightning's light, and the colors mixed between my whitish-blue with his light purple.

It was me versus him in a lightning showdown, with his side of the powers came closer towards me. Over time, I became weak. I couldn't push the ball of lightning away, my powers decreased greatly in a few seconds. I kept pushing with groans, struggling to not get myself killed. But, Williams broke through, and gave his all and pushed the lightning ball into my face.

"AAARRRRGGGHHHH!" I screamed as the lightning ball touched me.

I blacked out, dragged along the runway. I had to wake up, before Williams could stab me while I was KO'd. I needed some help, some kind of miracle. Then I heard a voice, a male, and he sounded very familiar. He said:

_**"Let go off your rage..."**_

By every second and line, Williams was a step closer to approaching me.

_**"Control your anger..."**_

_**"Face your fears..."**_

_**"And relieve your pain."**_

_**"Do not fight to avenge your friends and family. That is not the Jedi way."**_

_**"Fight for the right cause. Fight to stop evil."**_

_**"Thea needs you back, Danny. She needs you to keep fighting."**_

_**"Wake up and continue, Danial."**_

_**"Do it for her. She would want you to."**_

I woke up with my eyes wide open, seeing him about to plant his saber into my chest. But he was somehow mesmerized by my transformation and stopped. My eyes turned blue, my clothing changed to some kind of white robe, my wounds, cuts, and injuries healed, and all the negative feelings inside me had gone away. I had returned the Light Side of the Force, giving me even more strength.

Williams continued to stab me, but I quickly split my saber hilt and turned the blade on, which turned blue from red. I crossed my sabers in front of me, shielding myself as he kept pushing his closer. I delivered him a thrust kick so he would get of me, and gave me time to stand. He touched down with his lightsaber in the ground far enough to give me time for recovery.

I was back on my two feet, standing tall and strong in my new Jedi form. Williams got up slowly, shaking his head out of dizziness.

He spotted my blue sabers in the darkness of the rain as I held them in a stance. He was petrified after pulling his saber out of the ground. I wanted him to attack so he'd run out of energy. So I challenged him in my thick British accent. "What's the matter, Williams? Afraid to fight a Jedi?"

I can see the rage built up in his face. He frowned, raised his weapon and assailed toward me like a jouster on a horse.

I still can't believe how I still couldn't notice that I was still Force Healing Thea from far.

"C'mon, come get some!" I said to myself.

With another one of his loud battle cries, I braced myself for his attack. As he rushed to me with a thrust of his lightsaber, I Force Sped away behind him to dodge his assault, and counterattacked by landing a good kick in the back, making him almost stumble forward. Turning back, he just continued to swing random thrusts, tiring him even more.

Once again, another duel had begun. This time, a battle of blue versus red, cyborg versus human, and good versus evil. Williams aggression was really amped up, vigorously throwing all the moves he knew. Blocking and parrying was made easy with my split sabers, crossing the plasma blades in front during a frontal strike, spinning to deflect his swings from the side, and twirling the sabers to form a shield. And every time I thought that I couldn't defend, I just Force Speed to behind him and hit him with a minor kick.

We fought for what seemed to feel like two minutes. I stalled him until he was too tired to fight, and took the advantage to take him down in that state. "My turn!" I muttered.

I had to finish him off while I can, fast, quick, and I had to do it right. Make a wrong move, and I'll have to stall him again. It's like one of those boss fights in video games when the boss is almost defeated, you have to push the right buttons to win. Push the wrong button, and you'll have to do the whole thing again.

I began by Force Pushing Williams back twice as his saber absorbed the powers, repelling backwards, then I gave him multiple swings of my saber which he fended off, and a Shockwave by stabbing my saber in the ground which blew him away. I approached him as he recovered while holding the sabers with the blades behind my back. Upon sight, he lunges for me and throws more of his attacks. I dodged, ducked and Force Jumped away from those attacks and onto a hangar wall, and launched myself off the wall back to him with a flying foot to his face, knocking him down. I lifted him, slammed him on the ground. I lifted him again, pummeling him to the hangar wall. Finally, I lifted him facing Concourse D, and Force Sped back into the window we crashed through along with him.

He tumbled to the center to the concourse, while I stopped before him, landing safely on both hands and feet.

I dramatically approached him. With my lightsabers still turned on, I stood in front as he lays down in submission. "Go ahead, kill me! You were destined to!" I didn't give an answer because I thought about it for a while. "DO IT!" he yelled.

"No, Danny! Don't!" A familiar and recognizable female voice squeaked. It came from the right, at The Centurion Lounge.

I immediately turned my head. I was very alarmed, at the same time, the empty place in my heart was refilled. "Thea!" She was alive! When I was Force Healing her unnoticed, I must've repaired her heart and damaged brain tissue from the loss of blood. She was accompanied by her brother, her cousin and nephew, and Pandora of course.

She ran to me, giving me a tight squeeze after I deactivated my weapons. "Let it go, Danny. He's beaten." she advised, letting go of our embrace.

Her words sunk in, and so I did. I walked away with my resurrected friend and left the badly injured man, leaving the Specters to do the rest. They marched out the Lounge and ran after Williams to detain him, passing us. He complimented my robe, commenting that I looked like Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The young agent brought the middle-aged man to his feet, bringing out his cuffs. "Brazier Williams, you are under arrest for second degree murder of an Interpol agent, terrorism, and various international crimes," Hussein prosecuted as he cuffed him. "You have the right to remain sile...D'AWGH!" He was cut off by Williams backwards headbutt, subduing Hussein.

He electrocuted Hussein and his team so the weren't able to take action, electrocuted his plastic cuff to melt them off, and while the rest of us were distracted by our reunion, he shot a long streak of lightning out of his gloves to Thea.

"D'AAARRRGGGHHH!" she screamed. The winds emitted from the lightning was so strong, it blew every glass window the concourse had.

"THEA!" I shouted concernedly. I quickly reacted and took her place, cutting off the lightning that directed to her. Then I was the one electrocuted.

"Danny!" Thea called from the ground.

"GO! EVACUATE THE CONCOURSE! I'LL HOLD HIM OFF!" I said, holding the lightning from reaching her.

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine...JUST GO!"

Geronimo went to fetch her sister as the rest helped the Specters up. Thea resisted and wanted to help me, but Geronimo held her back. "You heard him, Thea! Time to go!"

They all fled the concourse, leaving me and Williams alone in the upper level to finish each other off.

I didn't want to let him walk free again, so I did what I had to do to stop him from terrorizing the world any further. I had to put him to rest, permanently. But at the cost of my own life.

I fought the lightning current, my feet dragged on the marble floor as I struggled to get to him. I extended my arms, ready to grab him when I get to him.

I heard the sounds of starting engines from outside the entrance window, and heard Thea crying out my name as they drove away. I cried, knowing abandoning her for the last time.

"Thea, I'm doing this for the world, and I'm doing this FOR YOU!" I said to myself.

I started fighting stronger through the current as it electrified me, holding back the pain.

Meanwhile, the evacuees ran for the hills, almost reaching the gates to the airfield. Thea was still in agony in the truck bed, others aiding her. Geronimo felt the guilt of abandoning me, so he thought of turning back. "Thea Sisters, you go to ahead and get help for Thea. The Specters and I are going to turn back and help Danny," he radioed.

Hussein and his teammates pulled the emergency brake on their pickup trucks and turned back to the concourse.

Meanwhile, I was really close to getting to Williams. It was about forty seconds after we first started, but it felt like forty hours.

Back to Geronimo, he and the Specters parked at a safe distance of fifty meters from the concourse. "We come back out with Danny, or we don't come back at all," Geronimo said, holding his M870 shotgun. Jogging to the concourse, he saw something through the window, like a giant protection bubble. "Hang on a minute, I see something," he said to his teammates.

He couldn't get a clear look of what the bubble is in the heavy rain. "Specter Six, paw me your sniper rifle, please," Geronimo requested. Six gave him his AWSM sniper rifle, and Geronimo positioned it on his shoulder, looking like he was going to shoot. He looked through the 20 time zoom scope to get a clear image of what he saw.

"Great Gouda..." he mumbled toward himself.

Meanwhile, just a few seconds back, I almost got a hold of Williams' shoulder. The lightning was agonizing, almost burning me alive.

I got close to him, and immediately grabbed his shoulder when I had the chance. And to make him stop, I thought of a power so destructive, it could bring the whole concourse down.

"YOU SHALL NOT DO ANYMORE DAMAGE TO THE WORLD!" I yelled to him as every loose object in the building spun around us.

"NOOOOOOO!"

Then everything blacked out.

* * *

**Geronimo's Perspective**

I knew what power he was using. And the destruction it could have caused was so massive, I knew that we had to run away for safety.

I set the gun down slowly to hip level. "IT'S A FORCE MAELSTROM! RUN!"

All of us ran the opposite direction in order not to get caught in the blast radius. The concourse itself was sucked in at first, then it all exploded in one violent and catastrophic 'boom'. The force of the blast was so powerful, everything caught in a hundred meters were blown away, including me and the Specters.

Everybody was screaming for their lives as they went flying. Landing with grunts and groans from the pain, miraculously everyone was fine.

* * *

**Thea's Perspective**

I was already in an ambulance, lying down on a stretcher, about to be taken to a hospital. The ambulance wasn't moving, as one of the paramedics was just coming in and closing the door when I heard a loud boom.

"You don't understand, I need to get out there! He's my friend!" I said to the one of two paramedics, struggling for him to let go of me.

"We know that, Agent Stilton. But you're injured, we need to take you to the hospital," said the paramedic, holding me down.

I became rebellious. "NOO!"

I elbowed the paramedic on my right directly in the face, and a punch to the second one on my left, instantly knocking them out. I undid the straps and buckles that restrained me to the stretcher and kicked the back doors open.

I jumped out into the rain, finding myself near the airfield gates of Terminal Three. Conveniently, Pierre was parked directly behind the ambulance.

"Agent Stilton, what are you doing out here?" the French supercar started.

"Pierre, I really need your help. I need you to drive me to Danny. I need to help him-"

"But my orders are clear. To escort you to Las Vegas General-"

"But Pierre, PLEASE! I beg you! He's my friend! I don't want to abandon him!"

He sighed before his words. "I am incapable of emotion, but I truly sympathize you and admire your passion for him. Climb aboard, I will take you to him."

I became so happy, yet so worried. "Thank you, Pierre!" I gave him a hug on the hood, and got aboard the drivers seat.

I drive him through the gates, seeing the devastation the explosion caused. The whole concourse collapsed to the ground, with only the gates still standing. The amount of rubble was a lot, the concourse was just a mound of building material. "DANNY!" I shouted upon catching a sight of the aftermath.

I saw Geronimo and the Specters on the ground, caught in the blast radius. I swerved, avoiding them. I braked and parked right in front what was left of the front entrance, got out and climbed pile of rubble in search of Danny.

"C'mon men, let's find him!" Hussein suggested. They rushed up the hill after me, going in random places.

We split up, moving randomly and removing the debris in hopes of any signs of Danny's survival. We all called out his name as we repeated the process, but there wasn't a single word from him.

"Danny!" I called.

"Where are you Danny?" Geronimo shouted

"Obi-Wan!" called Hussein by his codename.

Geronimo was in need of assistance of removing a piece of wall. "Somebody help me get this up," he ordered.

"I gotcha covered," Hussein responded. "Three, two, one... ARRGGHH!" They lifted the wall's remnants, but nothing or no one under it.

"Nothing...keep searching," Geronimo declared. They dropped the wall slowly, to ensure it doesn't suddenly move another piece of rock and hurting the others.

I had a sudden light bulb lighting up over my head. "Hussein, the specs! They have thermal vision!" I said, pointing at his combat specs.

"Why haven't I thought of that? Specters, go thermal!" Hussein commanded his team.

They tapped the frame of their eyewear twice, and scanned the whole area. Looking around, Kassim stopped and bulged his eyes. "Over there! I see something!" the muscular and bald man announced.

"I see it!" Hussein responded, looking in the same direction. "Good eye, big guy!"

"Where?" I asked desperately as we moved to the stated direction.

"He in some kind of crater," he paused to turn off the thermal vision, "...under this big piece of wall! Kassim!" he instructed the muscle of his team.

"On it!" He crouched down, getting a grip on the huge piece of debris. He groaned as he lifted up the wall with two of his teammates helping him flip it. Under the wall was a dear sight for sore eyes.

Danny was lying down in the said crater on his back in his tattered Jedi robe, torn with some burn marks in the sleeves. His head was turned to the side, and his face ha first degree burns. Other than that, only one of his split saber hilts survived the blast, one still in his right hand, and the other was melted completely next to his left hand.

"Danny!" I jumped into the crater, lifting him up afterwards. The rest at the top formed a line to carry Danny up. "Easy now," said Hussein, setting the boy down on a flat piece of marble floor.

I crouched by his side. "Danny! Danny, wake up, bud!" I squeaked, slapping his cheek repeatedly to wake him up. "Somebody get a medic!"

"Way ahead," Hussein said, holding his waterproof smartphone by his ear. "Hello? Nine-one-one? This is Interpol Agent Kamal Hussein, I need an ambulance at McCarran International. I have a thirteen-year-old blast victim on scene..."

Hussein continued to speak through his phone while I tried to revive Danny out of his unconsciousness. Nothing seemed to work, the only word he could weakly utter was my name.

The sounds of sirens from the police cars and ambulances entering the airfield filled my ears, with the officers starting to do their jobs, and the paramedics bringing out stretchers from the back.

In the pouring rain, a lightning bolt lit up the sky, with the loud roaring of thunder immediately sounding. I began crying my eyes out in my failed attempts.

* * *

**(Insert dramatic music here)**

**HOLD ON JUST A MINUTE! This isn't the end. There will be an epilogue. So stay tuned.**


	20. Chapter 20-Road To Recovery

**A/N: I'm back after 2 days (new record), I hope you enjoy this! Epilogue comin up!**

**Disclaimer **

**I own plot and OCs, nothing else.**

* * *

**Chapter 20**

**Road To Recovery**

**Desert Springs Hospital**

**Paradise, Nevada**

**6.02 p.m.**

**Thea's Perspective**

We all followed the ambulance from behind in our trucks and cars to the hospital. While the others were in the waiting lounge as I followed the hospital bed, Danny was admitted to the ER, and I was left alone outside the doors after escorting the poor boy because the doctors only let one person inside. Geronimo told me to stay, and told me that he'd be out with some news. There were a few waiting chairs outside the room, so I occupied one, propping my head up with my elbows on the knees and my fists on my forehead with my eyes closed, and hoped for the best.

A few full minutes had past, Geronimo had stepped out of the doors to the ER, looking relieved and at he same time worried. I immediately got off my chair and asked about Danny's condition. "How is he?" I squeaked, taking small steps forward.

"The doctors and nurses have managed to stabilize him. But his physical conditions are critical. He's suffered first degree burns on his face, a brain concussion, and a ruptured left eardrum."

I looked away. "That's...good to know."

"But, because of the brain concussion he got from that Force Maelstrom was really severe, I'm afraid that the doctors had declared that he's in the state of a coma. They're unsure when he'll be awake, but they're going to give him a CT scan in one minute to estimate when."

I looked back at him. "Will he remember us?

He breathed in deeply to think of an answer. "Um...the doctors are unsure of that as well. But, I think he will. Don't worry too much, okay?" He gave me a pat on the shoulder with a little smile on his face. "Everything will be fine." At least that cheered me up a little. "Come on, the one of the unoccupied doctors inside said that we were to step inside his office to treat our minor injuries."

"Let's go..." I replied.

After we were patched up and bandaged, we went back to the waiting lounge to break the news to the others in the waiting lounge. They seemed anxious at first when they saw us walk in. When Geronimo told them about his conditions, they were in for a bombshell. Questions arose and gasps louden.

"The doctors and myself wouldn't be expecting him to wake up soon, but let's not give up hope. Know that when he didn't give up on Thea when she was dying, and we should do the same," Geronimo said.

"Poor kid, he's done a lot for me. I'll never forget that," Hussein said, recalling Danny's deeds towards him.

"We all will remember what he did for us, and we owe him our lives," Benjamin stated.

"True that," Trap agreed.

One of the doctors that worked with Danny came and called Geronimo to speak with him. They spoke outside, and Geronimo nodded to every word from the doctor.

He came back in to tell what the doctor said. "Danny's undergone his CT scan. He's been transferred into a private ICU ward and we all may see him at once."

Still in our wet and drying combat clothing, we marched down the halls and followed the lead of the said doctor to his ward deep inside the hospital in silence. As we got to the ICU, I played 'Say Something' by A Great Big World in my head to suit the mood.

"You may enter at once, but please keep your voice down," the doctor instructed, opening the door to Danny's ward.

We followed his orders, and entered in quiet footsteps. With a single light from the wall lit up the room in the night, seeing Danny on the bed really broke my heart and made my ears turned down. He used to be bright and happy, he used to be active. But then, he was laying down on a bed, looking somewhat dead. He had a tube going into his mouth, hooked up to a breathing machine. Tubes that injected into his arm delivered glucose for his body, and his head was wrapped in a cast.

I nearly broke into tears. Everyone did. Great thing we all had each other for comfort. Geronimo was beside me, tucking his right paw in his pocket. He saw me emotionally distressed, so he pulled me close by the shoulder and pulled my head to his.

Benjamin got Pandora side by side, the Thea Sisters group hugged, whilst the Specters stood weeping and sobbing in the back.

We were only allowed to see him for a short time, so the doctor asked us to leave. With all the goodbyes, good nights, and get well wishes said to Danny, the Specters saluted farewell to him respectfully and left the room and followed the rest to the waiting lounge, leaving me and Geronimo behind so the doctor could give us the CT scan results.

"He's showing major brain activity during the scan. We tried the EEG test, and his brain waves sit somewhere around the delta but he should be in the alpha. He could be dreaming in a REM sleep, and that would indicate that he could wake up at anytime soon," the doctor told.

"That's great to hear!" Geronimo responded.

"It is, as long as he's not having a nightmare," said the doctor, looking back at Danny through the window. Then he returns his attention back to us. "One of you is welcome to stay and keep him company for the night."

"You go ahead and rest, Thea. I'll take care of him for tonight," Geronimo said.

"The others?" I wondered.

"Tell them to go back to base. If they have any complications in passenger capacity, Phantom and Banshee are in the parking lot and they're are available for driving. But Pierre stays, just in case.

"Will do," I replied.

I walked off to tell the others to go home, get some rest and sleep. They weren't happy about it, but I promised to update them about Danny's condition. So they went off towards the base, hugging and bidding each other goodbyes before they left the hospital.

I was left alone in the waiting lounge, waiting for my shift to come in the morning. I turned on the news on the TV, and was I in for a surprise.

"And a recap from the breaking news, LVPD officers yet have to investigate the origin of the explosion that caused the Concourse D of McCarran International Airport to collapse to the ground. So far, only one was severely injured, a 13-year old Danial Arif, junior multi-billionaire video game developer and iOS software designer, was admitted to Desert Springs Hospital..."

I had enough with the bad news, so I turned the TV off.

I got bored at one point, so I did what I felt like doing to keep my mind off things. Instead of curling up with a book like what Geronimo does, I played a few songs stored in my iPhone's music library with a pair of earphones plugged into the device. I enjoyed myself listening to some joyful beats and a little dubstep, but the next song was where it hit me right in the core of my emotions.

'My Immortal' was playing in my ears. I wanted to turn the song off, but I thought I'd just embrace the sadness and let the song continue. So I let the phone sleep by itself, and stared out the window, looking at the sky.

**(Piano riff)**

**I'm so tired of being here, suppressed by all my childish fears...**

**And if you have to leave, I wish that you would just leave...**

**Your presence still lingers here and it won't leave me alone!**

**These wounds won't seem to heal, this pain is just too real...**

**There's just too much that time cannot erase...**

**When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears...**

**When you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears...**

**And I held your hand through all of these years...**

**But you still have...all of me...**

**I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone..**

**But though you're still with me,**

**I've been alone all along!**

**(Band plays)**

**When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears... (Remembers time at the airport, Chapter 19)**

**When you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears...(Remembers fighting thugs, Chapter 7)**

**And I held your hand through all of these years...(Remembers grabbing wrist of Danny during explosion, Chapter 9)**

**But you still have...all of me...**

Remembering the memories we made couldn't keep me off, especially withe the song playing. I curled into a ball, hugging my legs and hiding my face behind them, and began crying over the ending piano riff.

* * *

**Tuesday, August 27, 2013**

**7.10 a.m.**

It was my turn it look after Danny. I walked down the hall back to the ICU wards in a new set of my regular everyday outfit I bought last night, holding a bag that contained a new suit for Geronimo. I reached Danny's ward, seeing the door left ajar, I peeped from behind the wall from the outside. Geronimo was seen sleeping on the visitor's chair next to the bed.

"Geronimo..." I called, trying to wake my brother.

He opened his sleepy eyes narrowly, responding to my call. He rubbed is eyes with the palms of his paws and inhaled deeply with a sound, then he sighed it out. "What time is it?" he tiredly asked.

I came out of hiding and leaned on the door sill. "Ten minutes past seven."

"Could you wake me up a little bit later, next time? I hate mornings," he stated.

"You wake up late every morning, G."

Geronimo stretched out as he sat, and some more after he stood up. He was on the way out, so I gave him his new suit in the bag. "What's this?" he asked, being handed the bag. Or rather pawed.

"A new suit for you. I bought it last night."

"How thoughtful, thank you," he said, starting to head for the restrooms to get changed. Meanwhile, I took his place on the chair and grabbed a fashion magazine from the bedside table.

Geronimo came back a few minutes later, showing up at the door with his new suit. "Aww! You look so cute in this!" I commented.

He put his arms akimbo. "Seriously Thea? A green suit?" I intentionally bought the suit to surprise him, and to remind him that who he was.

"Aw, c'mon! I missed you in this suit, you know that?" Geronimo could do nothing but smile and shake his snout.

"Thank you anyways, Thea," he continued, coming inside the room and sitting down on a chair next to me. "It's...nice to be who I really am for once in an Interpol assignment. I really owe you a favor."

"Your welcome," I replied.

Then came knocking an unknown person at the door, peeping from outside. He was tall, Caucasian, blonde, had a wide forehead, a long nose, and a small chin. He wore a blue shirt and a deep blue tie to complement the shirt, and a pair of black slacks and shoes. He carried a laptop bag on his right hand.

"Um...excuse me," the British gentleman began, "is this Danial Arif's ward?"

Geronimo immediately stood up. "Yes, it is. I'm Interpol Special Agent Stilton, Geronimo Stilton. This is his protective agent and also my sister, Special Agent Thea Stilton," he introduced. "May I know who are you?"

"But first, has he told you his secrets?" the man asked.

"Yes?"

"Then I'm Dr. Professor Graham Philips, a Caltech professor, his foster parent, and the creator of the microchip."

* * *

"...I'm surprised by his brainwave activities, and judging by this, he should have woken up by now," said the professor after seeing the results from last night's CT scan. "And like the doctor said, all is good in his REM sleep as long as he's not having a bad dream."

"Whether he's having a good one or not, it seems that he doesn't want to wake up from it," Geronimo theorized.

Then the doctor knocked on the door. "Um...is this a bad time?"

"No, no. What is it doctor?" Geronimo asked, standing up.

"We need to take Danny in for another CT scan. The other doctors and I will be done in about half an hour. Meanwhile, why don't you get yourselves some breakfast? The cafeteria's just one level down."

"Well, I am a little famished. I think I'll head down," said Professor Philips, getting off his chair.

"I'll join you," Geronimo said to the Professor. "Thea?"

"Sure," I replied.

* * *

"So, you two were involved in the events of the 2011 Weapons Expo?" asked the Professor, carrying his food tray to a table as the three of us walked to it.

"Yup," I answered.

"Don't remind me...I was the head of security at that day," he said, looking down and guilty. "To be honest, I never really did a good job on focusing on my directive."

"I understand the conflict you must've had," the Professor continued, "Either to avenge your friend or stick to your directive."

"I wish I had done the second option," Geronimo added as we sat down. "Danny's family could have been alive if it wasn't for me. I mean...I'm still overwhelming with guilt when Danny told me that Hisham Sidik was his father!"

"Hey, people make mistakes. It's all part of being a person, even a mouse! Don't punish yourself too hard," the Professor said, injecting some wisdom into my brother.

"Thank you for the words, Professor Philips-"

"Hold on a minute," he ordered, holding up his index finger. "I'm sorry, but I truly dislike this type of formality. Call me Graham."

"Geronimo," he referred himself.

"Thea," I squeaked.

"Again, thank you for the words, Graham."

"No trouble at all. Now, let's dig in!" Graham declared.

* * *

**2 hours later**

"The results are here and they look very strange," the doctor announced at the door of the ward.

"How strange, doctor?" Graham wondered, getting up and approaching the doctor.

"For starters, his brain activities were in the gamma region, meaning that his brain is active and racing with thoughts. So, I'm saying that he's supposed to be awake right now if he were still to be in that state," the doctor explained as he showed the piece of paper to Graham.

"If he's still not awake but his mind is active with thoughts, then he's not in the state of dreaming. He's playing back the memories he had stored in his brain!"

"So your saying in a way," the doctor added, "he's dreaming about the memories he had in the past?"

"Yes! Exactly! Oh thank God..."

"But why isn't he awake?" I asked as I stood up.

"Sometimes, people are aware that they are dreaming. That's called lucid dreaming where the person gets to sometimes control what happens in his dream and unusually controls when that person wants to wake up," the professor added.

"And in this case," Geronimo interfered, "maybe Danny's recalling all the good memories you and him made together and he doesn't seem to want to wake up from them. He wants to stay as long as he can."

I looked and stared at Danny blankly. "It's good to know that he still remembers me though..."

* * *

**Thursday, August 29, 2013**

**12.00 p.m.**

It's been a two and a half days since Danny's been admitted to the hospital. He went through a few CT scans and EEG tests, and all was normal with his brain activity being constant in the gamma waves, still dreaming about our memories. His newest development, he was able to breath by himself, without the assistance from the breathing machine. When I told the others through FaceTime, they jumped for joy. The only thing I'm disappointed in was that, he still didn't want to wake up.

I sighed, almost running out of hope as I scrolled on my phone in YouTube for some funny vids to cheer me up. But, as my last video ends, I already didn't know what to do. I sighed again, taking off my earphones.

I started to sob. "Oh Danno..."

The professor then shows up at the door. "His father used to call him that. Even I do. Looks like the nicknaming has infected you."

"Sob...I'm sorry that you had to see me this way, Graham. I'm not usually like this..."

He grabbed a chair and sat at the other side of the bed. "You seem have a soft spot despite being New Mouse City's toughest, Thea. And that soft spot is the boy on the bed."

"He's more than a friend. To me, he's like a brother."

He looks at Danny. "Oh, Danial. I wish you could see how much you friend misses you."

"Excuse me for interrupting you two," said Geronimo from outside the ward. "But I've the results from the scan and the EEG test."

"How is he?" I asked.

"According to this, he was dreaming wildly the time the doctor scanned him. His gamma waves are of the charts."

"Let me see that," the professor said while he stood, holding the paper and studied it in detail. "Hmm...this isn't good. He's having a nightmare."

"How bad is it?" Geronimo wondered.

"It depends on how painful the memory is." He turned to me. "Thea, what's the worst thing that happened to the both of you?"

"At the airport, I died when he tried to heal me," I replied.

"Hmm...the chance of him having that dream again is very high, and it could affect his mental state," the Prof stated. "Though let's not panic. Let's just hope that it doesn't get any worse."

I shifted my eyes towards Danny, who's closed eyes were letting go of loose tears that flowed slowly down his cheek. I knew that he was still dreaming something that hurt him. So I went to his right side and grabbed a chair.

His bed as low enough so I could put my head beside his, and sang into his ear. "Come stop your crying and you'll be alright... Just take my paw," I took his hand, "hold it tight..."

"I will protect you from, all around you... I will be here don't you cry..."

"And you'll be in my heart, yes, you'll be in my heart..."

"From this day on, now and forever more..."

What happened next was a miracle. He responded to the song and slowly gripped my paw.

I gasped before my squeaks. "Geronimo! Graham! Look! He's gripping my paw!"

"What?!" Geronimo said of shock.

"You're not joking, are you?" said Graham in response.

"No! I'm serious! Look!" They came close and looked at his newest development.

"Gracious!" Graham exclaimed. "And look! He's opening his eyes!"

We shifted our attention towards Danny's eyes. They were narrowly opening. Graham rushed to his other side.

"Danial? Danial, if you're in there and if you can hear me, move your left index finger," he ordered. He heard his command and raised his finger up until I can see it.

"Stay still, I'm going to check your eyes," said Graham. He took out a small flashlight from his pocket and shined it into Danny's eyes as he held the eyelid up. "Pupil sizes are normal... Danial, you're in hospital. Say something if you got anything that I just said."

Hearing him say repaired my shattered heart. "Which hospital am I in?"

"My word! He's fully awake!" He rushed to the door. "Nurse! Get a doctor in here! He's awake!"

"Thank Gouda..." Geronimo and I mumbled.

The doctor rushed in did some medical procedures. And then, the moment of truth. "Danial, do you remember these two people?" Graham asked him, extending his arm to address us.

Danny just looked at us in shock, like he never knew me or Geronimo at all. "Danny," I started, "do you remember us? Do you remember me?"

He replied; "I don't remember, but I know the two of you. You guys are Geronimo and Thea Stilton," then he turned to Graham. "I know them from their books."

The words had broken my heart once again, like a baseball bat smashing a piece of glass. "You mean, you don't remember the things you've done with them? The times you spent, the battles you've fought with?" asked the professor to clarify.

"No. I'm sorry, but I can't remember at all."

Again, from my smile of relief and joy returned to a disappointed frown. I released my paw's grip from his hand and slowly pulled it back. The dam of my tear ducts began to burst, flooding my eyes and slightly blurred my vision. I stormed past everyone and out of the room and ran away crying.

"Thea, wait!" Geronimo called, trying to stop me. He followed behind and tried to catch up.

Meanwhile: "Nurse, get him to another CT scan. See if there's any damage to his hippocampus," ordered the doctor.

Back to my situation, Geronimo caught up to me near the waiting lounge and grabbed me by the shoulder. "Thea!"

I kept on crying, and crying, and crying. "Why doesn't he remember me?"

Geronimo turned me around so I'd face him. "Thea snap out of it!" he said.

Feeling embarrassed by the way I was acting, he brought me inside the waiting lounge and made me sit down on the couch.

"Thea, you shouldn't be like this. He awake, is that good enough?" he questioned. Overwhelmed with guilt, I didn't give an answer. So he continued; "Plus, don't expect too much from him. He's just woken up from a coma, for cheese's sake. Cut him a little slack."

"Your right...sob...your right, I'm sorry..."

"Here," he took out a handkerchief from his jacket pocket, "blow on this." He pawed the piece of cloth over to me, blew my nose, and handed it back to him. He seemed disgusted by the way he was holding it by his fingertips. "Blech..." He reacted. "Anyway, we'll have the answers from the professor when Danny's scan is done. Don't worry."

* * *

**Waiting Lounge**

**12.50 p.m.**

The three of us gathered at the waiting lounge in so we could discuss what happened to Danny's memory. Earlier, I FaceTimed the people back at the base, informing them that Danny's awakes and told them that he doesn't remember any of us except Benjamin.

"The doctors said that there's not a sight of damage dealt to the hippocampus when they scanned Danny," the professor stated, sitting on the couch at the side of the room with his MacBook Air on the coffee table. "But, I checked his microchip's activities with this custom-built software I use to monitor him, and memories from both his chip and brain was from November twenty-eleven. He could remember up till then and only knows you both as authors of your respective novels."

"What happened to his recent memories?" I raised a question.

"He deleted them. Both from his brain and the chip," he simply answered.

"Why would he do that?" Geronimo asked, sounding info-hungry as I was.

"I can answer that since I'm a psychologist," Graham informed, "but first, I hope you won't be offended when I ask you this, Thea, but how many painful memories have you shared?"

"Plenty, especially at the airport," I replied.

"Well, that solves it. Here it comes, he deleted those memories because they hurt him too much. Therefore to relieve the psychological pain, he deleted them. He doesn't want to remember all those bad things, failing to save Thea, turning Sith, possessing Sith powers, no, he doesn't want that in his memories."

"Then if he deleted only the painful ones, then why doesn't he remember us? And how'd you know that he had Force powers?" I asked again.

"One: You said that he was like a second brother to you, correct?" I nodded my head. " Then he must've felt the same way with you. You remind him of his sister so much that when he reminds himself of his sister and the fact that she's already long gone, he deletes all the memories that were related to you by accident, along with the adventures you had. Two, don't tell anyone that I'm his Jedi master. Only the rest of your family."

"Forget the Jedi thing..." Geronimo interjected. "When did he deleted his memories?"

"I'll check..." He dragged his finger on the trackpad of his MacBook Air and double-tapped on something. "Almost an hour ago. The time when he woke up. When Thea was singing in his ear, it must've reminded him of the last piece of memory he enjoyed before his final deletion and before he was awaken. The song you sang before your death."

"Maybe you were so dear to his heart, only you could revive him. Because he loved you like his own sister," Geronimo summarized.

"Is there any hope of retrieving his memory back, Graham?" I asked, returning to the topic.

"There is, the chip has a 'backup to cloud' function where he sends his memory into a server I built back at California whenever he likes. But I can't assure you that he had backed up before the time of the deletion. But better to be safe than sorry, I'll check his latest backup. Let's see..." He dragged his finger on the trackpad again and double-tapped. "Wow. You're really lucky, Thea. He backed up all of his memories about ten minutes before he deleted them."

"Thank Gouda..." I said in relief.

"Luckily I brought my personal network dongle along with me so I could download the data, and I estimate that it'll be done in twenty-four hours. Then I'll send it into his chip, and he'll be back to normal."

"Thank you so much prof...um...Graham. You have no idea how happy you made me."

"Believe me, I do. And to help him, get his friend here, Benjamin. He'll help by retelling the story of what you had done."

"Settled. I'll get him on the phone..." then he frowned, reminding himself that; "if it weren't drenched in the rain..."

"I've got you covered," I said. I quickly got Benjamin on speed dial. "Ehem..." I waited for him to pickup. "Hey, Benjamin. Yeah, I need you to do me a favor..."

* * *

**2 hours later**

I was in the ward with the professor while Geronimo was out to The Strip to find a new replacement iPhone for himself. Benjamin was had arrived via riding in Anton, and I had him to wait outside until we cued him in. Meanwhile, the laptop was plugged into an outlet as it downloads a hundred gigabytes of data as a speed of five hundred megabytes a minute.

"Prof, why am I taller than usual, feeling all muscly, and why does my voice sound deep?" asked Danny, sounding naive.

"That's called puberty, Danial. And you have entered it a long time ago. About a few months," Graham answered, marching back and forth inside the ward.

"But it felt like a short while."

"Danial, your age is not like what you think it is. How old do you think you are and what year do you think your in?"

"Twelve years old at twenty-eleven?"

"Here's the thing Danial. You have lost your memory in an explosion and you're thirteen years old, turning fourteen this year in the next couple of days, which is twenty-thirteen." The expression of his face said: 'Whaaaa?'

"And to help you, we have brought your friend, Benjamin," he steps in and waves at Danny, "to tell you the story of what has happened while the memory you backed up is being downloaded. Benjamin, take it away..." Graham stepped out and left the three of us in private.

Benjamin took a chair and sat next to Danny's bed. "Benjamin, is it true that I've lost my memory? Talk to me, bro, I need to know what I did in the past couple of years!" said Danny, stroking the cast on his head.

Then Benjamin started rhyming. "Weeeeellllll...this is a story all 'bout how, your life got turned upside down... I'd like to take a minute just sit right there, I'm gonna tell you all about it while I'm on this chair."

"You still got the rhymes, now tell me what I need to know," Danny demanded.

Benjamin started talking fast, quick, and he told Danny everything. From when he started to work with Apple, until when he became successful.

**3.44 a.m.**

"Then we got a call from the General Secretariat saying that you need protection from Interpol. So he sent us..."

**6.23 p.m.**

"Not even finishing her first night of Aunt Thea's stay, someone broke into your property, and you just shot the cheese out of his car..."

**8.43 p.m.**

"We found the body of the marine with the NCIS agents, so we had to investigate the murder..."

**9.50 p.m.**

"Then, your house was under attack by a team of Technologist troops. There was a helicopter on the roof, and you guys shot it down..."

**Friday, August 30, 2013**

**8.39 a.m.**

"You had to blow up your retreat estate, and we had to relocate again..."

**10.45 a.m.**

"You initiated Operation On Your Six after you saw the ransom video with Aunt Thea..."

**12.12 a.m.**

"She died...but you still Forced Healed her even when you turned Sith when you battled Williams in a lightsaber duel..."

**1.03 p.m.**

"You told us to evac the place as you tried to fight Williams' lightning, and did a Force Maelstrom that brought the whole concourse down. We searched under the wreckage for you, but when we found you, you were in a coma. That's how you got yourself here."

"Thea," Graham called, checking his computer screen.

"Hmm?" I responded, turning to him.

"It's done."

I my eyes sparkled in anticipation as I slowly left a wide grin.

* * *

This was it, the big moment. I was standing by Danny's side with Professor Philips eagerly while Geronimo and Benjamin stood opposite of us. At the same time, Benjamin held up his iPhone and pointing the back of it towards Danny so the others at the base could see the process via FaceTime. Plus, when this turned out successful, he got to leave the hospital!

"Danial, I'm going to start the restoration of your memories back into your chip and your head. Now, the computer is going to send the data and you'll feel a slight tingling for a few seconds," explained the Professor.

"Okay...I'm ready," Danny signaled.

"Close your eyes, mate," the Professor ordered. Danny did as told, and laid still on his bed.

"Starting the restoration," he announced, going to his computer, "now!"

He pressed the 'return' button on his MacBook's keyboard to initialize the syncing process. The blue loading bar was slowly filling up to 25 percent in five seconds. Then it reached 50 percent, and then it got to 75 percent in no time at all!

It was at 99 percent when another gigabyte of his memory was being restored into his chip. We all waited for it to completely fill up in anxiety. Then the process finally finished, showing on the screen was a message that said: 'restoration complete and successful' with a green tick beside it.

Danny took a breath as he opened his eyes. "Oh God!" he exclaimed.

"Danny?" I called, wanting seeing how'd he react.

"Thea!" he responded.

I was so glad that he had his memories back, I just had to give him a tight squeeze. "Thank Gouda! You remember me!"

"Argh! So glad to see you to Thea!" He said, gasping for air after I let him go. I heard the guys at the base screaming in victory through Benjamin's phone's speaker.

"Doctor! His memory's restored!" Graham called.

The doctor came to the door. "That's great news, professor! I'll sign some papers, and he'll be out of here very soon, congratulations, professor!"

* * *

**My Perspective**

We were all out of the hospital, outside at the north entrance. I was dressed in new threads Thea bought for me during her trip to The Strip. She knew me well and bought me the right clothes. The only difference was the absence of my drop-leg holster, I didn't have my gun with me, so I didn't really need one.

"Welp professor, this is goodbye, I guess," I stated.

"Until next time Danial... Until next time," he replied.

I gave him a tight hung as if he was my father. "Love you prof..."

"I love you too, Danny." Don't be weirded out, that wasn't the first time he called me other than Danial.

"So Graham," I started. "You wanna hitch a ride with us?"

"No, thank you. I've a flight scheduled for California at two."

"Have a safe flight then. I hope to see each other again," Geronimo bid, stepping closer to him. "And thank you for bringing Danny back, Graham."

"Thank you, Professor," Benjamin thanked.

"Thank you, Graham. For everything," said Thea.

"Your all very welcome," he replied. Then he saw a cab coming into the parking lot, driving towards us. "There's my cab, I'll be off." The cab stops in front of us. "Goodbye!"

"Bye!" I waved. He hopped into the back seat, and the cab drove away. And so I turned to the group. "So, I guess this is goodbye? With Williams dead and all, and the assignment done?"

"Not yet...we still have a surprise for you," Benjamin corrected.

"Where?"

"We gotta get to it first..."

"In cars?"

"Pierre and Colette are in the parking lot waiting for us," Geronimo interrupted.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get this show on the road..." Thea cut in.

We hopped in the two Bugatti Siblings with Thea in the driver's seat, started the W16s and squealed off out of the hospital area, and sped off to the surprise.

* * *

**Santa Monica Beach**

**Saturday, August 31, 2013**

**11.50 a.m.**

We took the I-15 to Santa Monica, and traffic was moderate, no signs of heavy weather, and it was cold last night, and Thea refused to turn the heater on. What made the journey take a whole night was that we (by we I mean Thea) was constantly driving at 62 miles an hour.

"Are there yet?" I asked for the fifth time.

"Almost," Benjamin replied.

"And why are we at Santa Monica Beach?" I asked again.

"You'll see..." Thea answered, hiding something.

We entered a street where my beach house was at. As we went further down the road, I caught a sight of what appeared to me my cars.

"Wait, what are my cars doing here? And why are they parked in front of my old beach house?" I asked for the final time.

"Like Benjamin said, you'll see..." Thea answered.

Thea parked right behind Wraith at the other side of the street opposite to my old house, while Geronimo parked right in the driveway to the garage. Me, overflowing with curiosity, quickly stepped out after unbuckling my seat belt and shut the door, waiting for the others to do the same.

"Would someone tell me what's going on?" I demanded.

"Yeah, we're here. Everything's set? Okay, we'll bring him out back," said Geronimo to an unknown caller in his new phone. "Let's go, Danny! Your surprise is at the backyard!"

I crossed the small road with Thea, continuing my walk at the small pathway at the side of the house. The rest of us followed behind. "What do you guys have on store for me?" I said, strolling along the path as I looked back.

"That," Thea replied, pointing at the beach.

The moment I set foot on the sand of the beach, I could not believe my eyes.

"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DANNY!" That's right! The 31st was my fourteenth birthday! How could I forget my own birthday? Everyone was there for the surprise; the Wolf Pack, the Thea Sisters, Trap, Pandora, everyone! They were all huddled up around the giant birthday cake on a picnic bench, with Kassim and Khalid at both side as they each held up a stick with a banner tied that wrote; 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

I was so moved by the surprise, I froze in place, showing nothing but blushing bright red cheeks and wore a big grin. "You guys! You shouldn't have! Who's idea was this?"

"From all of us! Primarily Benjamin," Pandora told.

I looked at the mouse responsible. "Benjamin, you told them about my birthday?"

"Eeyup..."

"Gimme a hug!" I bent my knees to match my height with his, and gave him a Thea-styled squeeze.

"D'oh man! You're a hugger!" the mouselet reacted, being able to barely breath.

I let him go before he ran out of air. "Guys play the song!" Thea requested.

"We're not gonna play it, we're gonna sing it!" Trap squeaked. "And a one, two, three!"

As they sang 'Happy Birthday' to me, I approached the bench with slow steps, getting a glance at the cake. It was in the shape of a pair of large-scaled Glock 17s, one on top and the other at the bottom. They even placed a pair of lit candles at the muzzle to simulate muzzle flash. Three large-scaled 9 mm cartridges complemented the cake. As the song ended, I blew out the candles, and Thea captured the moment in a picture with her iPhone.

We cheered after I blew the candles out, and Pandora handed me a cake knife so I could slice it. I proceeded to cut the Glocks, and put the slices on a plate. Soon, everyone lined up to get a slice and finished it all up, including the cartridges.

I took a scope of the cake, along with the black chocolate fondant. And it was divine. I enjoyed it in the wind of the beach, and Thea took another photo. "This cake is good! Where'd you guys get this stuff?"

"On the contrary," Trap started. "Pandora made the Glocks all by herself! Using your kitchen oven to bake it!"

Pandora who sat beside me with Thea on the bench blushed away. "You made this?"

"Uh...he-he-yeah..." She giggled.

I rested my plate on the bench's table. "C'mon, you deserve a hug!"

"I think it's not necessary," she said. Ignoring her rejections, I gave her a friendly Thea-styled hug anyway. "Oh, cheese! Benjamin's right, you're quite the hugger!"

* * *

After having the cake, they surprised me more with a wheelbarrow of birthday presents. Literally. Hussein brought the presents out on the beach with a wheelbarrow from the other side of the house.

"Oh my..." was my reaction when Hussein brought the wheelbarrow out. "Guys you really shouldn't have! Seriously!"

"Oh, you deserve them! You saved the world, you know that?" he stated, stopping at the bench. He then reached in for a wrapped present. "Here! Open this one!" He threw the package at me, and I caught it with a single hand.

There was a card stuck to it. I turned the cover and read the contents aloud. "Dear Danny, thanks for getting us together. Hope you like what's in the box! Love, Pam and Hussein. You got this together?"

"Yup, as a thank you gift for what it said in the card," he said. Then everyone reacted by giving them a loud 'ohh'.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Open it," he instructed. I teared up the wrapper, revealing some kind of miniature briefcase. It hand a giant 'G' logo on it. I proceeded to open the case. "My gosh! A fully aluminum Glock 17!" The gun looked awesome. It came packaged with two aluminum mags, and a cleaning kit. The gun as I would describe it, made from ionized aluminum from slide to frame, had artistic engravings on the slide, and an engraved message etched on a plaque at the left of the slide saying: 'Happy 14th!" in all caps. At the top, two signatures, each belonging to Pam and Hussein.

"Seriously, this gun is to precious to shoot!" I said, admiring the craftsmanship of the gun's engravings as I held it. "I'm gonna frame this and mount it in a wall!"

"That's why it came with this," he held a frame for the said gun and handed it to me.

"Thanks, you two! I love it!" I put it back in the case, closed it, and set it on the table.

"And this..." Hussein took something out of his pocket, "is a Medal of Honor from me and the Specters, for bravery for participating in an Interpol rescue op."

"Thanks guys!" I waved to the Specters after receiving the medal in hand, lining up. They gave me a salute.

"Okay, the next one's from..." he said, getting back to the wheelbarrow. He got his hands on another present and read the card attached. "Trap, Benjamin, and Pandora."

He gave me the box and I immediately ripped off the wrapper. It was... "A tactical pistol kit! Personalize-able!" It came with a tactical attachment rail, a red dot sight and a flashlight to go with the rails, a suppressor and a laser engraver. Everything was ionized aluminum like Hussein and Pam's Glock.

"Compatible with any pistol," Trap stated.

"Thanks you guys..." I thanked. "Who's next?"

"The Rodent's Gazette team!" Hussein announced.

Geronimo stepped up. "A front page article of you in The Rodent's Gazette. Telling about what we had did during the past few days."

"And from the Thea Sisters?" Hussein interrupted.

"A show!" Nicky shouted from the beach house, coming out through the sliding kitchen doors, followed by the Thea Sisters. They were dressed up in combat clothing.

They scampered to the empty part of the beach, made a circle, emptying the spaces beside them. All five stood in a stance, taking out combat knives. I was feeling nervous, they were about to start a melee deathmatch as a gift. We all stared at them as they eyed each other, waiting for someone to attack.

Pam made the first move, throwing a thrust of her blade to Nic beside her. Nic took Pam's arm and countered by stabbing her in the gut. Nic pulled her knife out, and Pam dropped dead on the sand, with blood flowing out of her wound. We gasped, and Hussein called out her name.

Meanwhile, the last four started to fight among themselves. The deathmatch lasted about 50 seconds, with Paulina and Violet dead, it was down to just Nic and Colette. Both commando-trained mice gave each other a stab in the abdomen, and both thudded in the sand.

We watched in terror when all of them died.

But, it was just a show. Pam got back up. "It's okay! We're still alive!"

We sighed in relief, and saw all of them got back up. "Anymore horrifying performances that I should know about? That almost gave me a heart attack," Hussein said.

"Nope, we are done here," Colette answered. "How was it, Danny?"

"One word. Realistic."

"Just as I thought..."

We spent the rest of the day in the beach house to rest so they can reenergize for their flights back to their homes in the night.

* * *

**Los Angeles International Airport**

**8.12 p.m.**

"You're not gonna fly back to Malaysia with us?" Hussein wondered, holding his carry on while waiting for his flight to call.

"Nah, I'm gonna stay. I really miss this place," I answered.

"Hey, don't forget to contact us," Paulina told.

"I will. I got your numbers on my phone," I said.

"Hey, I've got something for you," Geronimo stepped up.

"What is it?" He took out a folded piece of paper from inside his green jacket and handed it to me. I unfolded it and scanned through the whole thing. "This is an Interpol recruitment form. My recruitment form my dad sent when the agency started accepting kids as agents."

"And I have approved it. From now on, you are Special Agent Danial Arif," he dubbed me.

"This is so awesome, I've always wanted to be one of you guys. When will I start?"

"We agents work part time, therefore I'll call you every time Interpol assigns us to a mission."

"I'll be sure to answer..."

"And another present from me..." Thea interrupted.

"Thea?"

She took a wrapped item from her backpack and handed it to me. "I want you to have this. Go ahead, tear it up..."

I clawed the rectangular-shaped gift's paper wrap. The moment I had my eyes locked on what was hidden under, my eyes sparkle when my tears were released from the ducts.

There were two framed photos, one was a photo of me and Thea walking down the Nye County base to the garage with our weapons and combat clothes on, taken by Pandora before we took off for Operation On Your Six. The other was my family photo, taken in front of the fireplace at my Santa Monica beach home.

"Where'd you get the family photo?" I asked, returning my attention at Thea.

"I managed to save this at the mantle of your retreat estate before you blew it up," she answered, crouching to match my height. "Cherish those for all your life."

On the spot, I gave her a goodbye hug with the photos still in my hands to thank her for the thoughtful gift. "Bye," I whispered into her ear.

"Bye Danno," she whispered back.

The group's reactions: "D'awwwwww!"

We let each other go of the embrace, and Thea promptly stood back up.

"Last call for flight QBZ95 and QBZ97, please report to Gate B6 and B7," said the announcer over the PA system.

"That's our flights, we better leave," Geronimo declared.

"See you guys again!" I said as a form of farewell.

"BYE DANNY!" They returned, waving as they walked to their gates.

I watched their flights took off plane by plane at the concourse's glass wall, wishing them a safe flight to their homes.

I drove home in Pierre with the 15 other cars behind following my lead back to Santa Monica Beach, got to my old room when I was twelve, and slept on the bed, replaying the adventures the gang and I had in my dream.

* * *

A/N: almost the end. Stay tuned in another day.


	21. Chapter 21-Epilogue

**A/N: Here it is; the true ending to my first fanfic! This has been great, and I hill be writing a sequel for this. I hoped you readers enjoyed my whole fic, an a Happy New Year! And thanks for the 500+ views!**

**UPDATE: THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR 600 VIEWS!**

* * *

**Chapter 21**

**Epilogue**

And so, our adventure ends right there with the world at piece again. Everything was back to normal, and life ran as how it was.

For Brock Russell, when Pandora checked out his car's GPS history, it was last used to set the destination to the Malaysian Interpol headquarters. Geronimo had interrogated him before we fled to America, and demanded answers. It turned out, that he wanted redemption. He wanted to turn himself in. The reason? He fell in love, he felt guilty that when his girlfriend found out that he was a member of a terrorist organization. So, in hopes of she would forgive him and would return to him, he thought that he would surrender and face the music. He was then trialled for his crimes at World Court during my birthday.

"Brock Russell, the jury finds you guilty of all charges. I hereby sentence you to a life of imprisonment, or, redeem yourself and serve the world as an Interpol agent," the judge suggested.

"I...I choose the second option!" Russell chose.

And guess what part of Interpol he worked in...that's right. The Intelligence Department. He's now a spy for Interpol.

Williams? LVPD cops have searched all over the wreck of what was left of McCarran's Concourse D for his remnants. The only thing that survived was an arm. A dismembered one. They ran a DNA test and confirmed that it was Williams', and confirmed that he was no longer alive and the rest of him was disintegrated in the Force Maelstrom.

As for his followers, with Russell's intel, he told Interpol all the Technologist bases in the world. And each base in every member country of Interpol sent tactical teams to shut them down, kill them, apprehend them, and demolished every piece of their bases to the ground.

As for my newfound friends who renamed themselves as the Specters and also the Thea Sisters, they were given praises and an Interpol Medal of Honor by the General Secretariat each for their bravery and service, and how they professionally handled the hostage situation back at Las Vegas. In addition, they are now promoted personally from the GS to become Interpol Special Ops Agents, and they will partake in every mission in Geronimo's team which requires tactical skills.

At the Santa Monica house after the party, I told Geronimo that Benjamin said that he vowed to be an Interpol agent until Williams is dead or captured. So I asked him: will he stay an Interpol agent or will he return to his normal, news-hunting life with his family like he used to? He replied that he would do both; be a full-time agent with a part time job. The others agreed, no questions asked.

Me? Before I was able to even step foot outside the terminal to the parking at the entrance, I was swarmed by the press of every news media. They raised all types of questions; but the ones that gave me the most impact was:

"Mr. Arif, will you still work with Apple Inc as Head of Software Programming and Design?" That came from a correspondent from MSNBC. So I answered;

"I will have to say no on that. I have thought about it lately, and had decided to resign my position at Apple Inc. I will hand the position to the next person in line, and I will drop in my resignation letter to the CEO."

The second one gave me the most impact. "One more question for all the gamers in the world, will you still be developing your video games series, Fields Of Battle?" That was from a correspondent from IGN. I answered with;

"I have been working on the sequel and the third settlement for Fields Of Battle which I will not reveal the title until further notice. And I'm sorry to say, it will be the last game of the series before I move on. I apologize to all the fans and gamers that loved me and my teams' work, but I want to move on and enjoy the rest of my teenage life. Again, I'm so sorry."

And, I decided to move to another place immediately. So I quickly checked some real estate websites and found a perfect mansion a few hundred miles off the Eastern Seaboard.

* * *

**Thea's Perspective**

**Thea's house, New Mouse City**

**Monday, September 2, 2013, two days later**

**7.30 a.m.**

It was another usual Monday, I was up and early as usual, getting ready for the day. As always, my daily alarm sounded at 7.30 on my iPhone, labeled as 'News Hunting Time' as my wake-up alarm was set at seven every morning. I was just in front of my closet, putting on the jacket I got from inside it. Not even done suiting up for my bike ride to The Rodent's Gazette building, I got a text. Even more surprising, it was from Danny. I took a glance of the message at the lockscreen of my iPhone that read: 'Look out your bedroom window." It was even more surprising when I flipped the curtains to see what was so important to see.

A Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse was parked on my driveway, in front of the garage that stored my pink Ducati. It even blinked its daytime-running lights at me. It was painted in its Special Edition colors, white and light blue. "What in the name of Gouda?" I exclaimed upon sight of the two-million dollar supercar.

I quickly ran down the stairs and stepped out of my house, locking the door on the way out. Then I scampered through the front yard to the Bugatti. Then I got another text from Danny that said: 'Get in, he's unlocked.' And so, I pulled the door panel and sat in the driver's seat, then closed the door.

Gripping on the steering wheel, a holographic screen popped up, hovering at the right side of the steering wheel. Then it displayed Danny's upper half with nothing but an empty background behind him, in a message.

"Thea, if you're watching this, it means that right now, you are in a Bugatti Veyron named Sebastien. He's a complete and direct clone of Colette, and Sebastien possesses all of Colette's performance stats, weapons, and defense systems. I'm sure that you like him, don't 'cha? Well, it's your lucky day! Sebastien is all yours!" At that point, I just couldn't believe what he said. "No! I'm not kidding! Why? Oh just a little something-something for ya...okay not really. It's as a 'thank you' gift. Can't believe it? Then you won't believe this! I'm giving you a three-million dollar budget for Sebastian's maintainence! Repairs, resprays, servicing, part replacements, anything that's related to your Bugatti. Okay, I'm gonna cut to the chase. I want you to go to this address..." The address showed up on the bottom of the screen, "and when you're there, wait at the street. It's just outside the city, about fifteen minutes from your house. It'll show up in the minimap. And, I challenge you to get there in half the time stated. Timer starts now..."

The video message terminated, the screen shrunk, an the timer which happened to be counting down in the HUD started to...well...count down. So I promptly got the keys from the glove box, inserted it to the keyhole and listened to the engine purr as I started the engine. I abruptly made Sebastien roar before I reversed him out of the driveway and into the streets of New Mouse City, and raced against time to the finish line, which was the address.

* * *

**107 Richmond Drive, quarter mile west outside NMC**

I've managed to beat the clock with only fifteen seconds to spare, and left behind some skid marks as I braked. Anyway, I was in the rich people's suburbs area, surrounded by mansions and fences and gates...the one Danny told me to go to was very much like his retreat estate back at DC. on a hill, white, long, big, huge empty yard spaces...but nothing was happening there.

I got out of Sebastien to take a look of the mansion from the outside and went to the gates to check the address. "107 Richmond Drive," I muttered to myself.

Reminding myself to close the door which I totally forgot to do, I paced back to Sebastien and gave his white door a slight push. As momentum did the rest of the work, a black Cadillac CTS-V sedan stopped right behind Pierre from the road that I came in. I was dumbfounded when the driver got out, it was Geronimo who was behind the wheel. Looking into the mirrors, I saw that with him was Trap, Benjamin, and Pandora.

"Geronimo?" I said, still surprised by his appearance. He was in his normal green suit.

"Danny told you to go here, Thea?" he asked, swiftly race-walking towards me after shutting the door.

"Yeah, you guys too?"

"Yup, I saw the Cadillac my driveway and a text message from Danny that told me to get in. The holographic message of his told me that the car's mine to keep," he stated, pointing his thumb to the car, "and told me to get here with Trap, Pandora, and Benjamin."

"That's what happened to me. In a holographic message in the Bugatti, Danny said this..." I gave Sebastien a pat, denoting that he was in my possession, "...is mine."

"He gave you a Bugatti?!" he said, holding his arm out to Sebastien.

I crossed my arms. "Lucky me...jealous much?"

"A little. What's his or her name?"

"His name's Sebastien. A perfect male copy of Colette. Yours?"

"Her name is Terra," he squeaked, looking back at his car. "A Hennessey-tuned Cadillac CTS-V, complete with the HPE1000 upgrade. The only thing I understood from her performance specs was that she's got a thousand horsepower emitting from her bi-turbo V8, accelerates from zero to sixty-two in 2.9 seconds, and she can achieve a top speed of 242 miles an hour. With a little bit of Danny's touch, she can spin on all four wheels."

I raised my eyebrow. "That's the only stuff you understood?"

"And...the special thing about her is that her computer brain is modeled after yours, so we could get along with each other. Oh, I almost forgot. Did you receive the three-million dollar vehicle budget?"

"I did..."

After our discussion, a milk white 2013 Porsche 911 GT3 braked past our cars, stopping in front of Sebastien. Geronimo and I couldn't see the driver because the glass was tinted in deep black. It made us wondering, but we stopped when the driver got out. He was five feet tall, dressed in plaid over an undershirt with Levi's jeans and blue Converse sneakers. We had to brace ourselves because the person was about to blow up our minds.

"Surprise!" the driver said in his teenage voice, standing by his car was he kept the door open.

"Danny?" Geronimo and I responded simultaneously.

"You might be questioning why am I here and what am I doing in New Mouse City. I'm prepared to answer both questions in one answer. And have I got a piece of news for you."

"What's the news?" Geronimo asked.

"You see this mansion?" Danny rhetorically asked, extending his arms at the mansion. I'm here to stay!"

"You're gonna live here in New Mouse City? With us?" I asked excitedly.

"W-w-wait, three years ago, and a human was here and he checked out this mansion first before you. That would make him the first human visitor..." Geronimo stated.

"That was my father, he was paying up front for the mansion. But, the bank repossessed it when he died and tried to resell it to another buyer," Danny said, cutting off Geronimo's squeaks.

"Then if your here to stay, that would mean that you will be the first human to ever reside in New Mouse City!" Geronimo continued.

"See? I knew it would be a piece of news!"

"Then we have to interview you!" I suggested.

"That won't be necessary, for I will join you in the news business. I am willing to work for you, Mr Stilton. Free of charge, twenty-four seven, three sixty-five."

"That's even more great news!" I stated, boosting up my cheerfulness.

"Then you'll be partnered up with Thea then, together as special correspondents," Geronimo dubbed, giving him the same position as mine.

"Then I'll better get started. After my birthday party two days ago, I immediately commanded my cars at DC to get to the harbor and pack themselves in any cargo container they could find that would be shipped to New Mouse City. And ships that carried those containers had harbored here at NMC Harbor yesterday, and the containers are finished unloading just this morning at six."

"Your giving the homeless cars a home?" I asked.

"Yup, and they've started to bust out of the containers like animals escaping from a zoo, and find their way here."

Geronimo stroked his chin. "Reeking havoc at a harbor, that could be a scoop," he said.

"And there's about four hundred more cars still busting out, unable to be controlled by the police. I assumed that your rival, Sally Rassmaussen and her assistant, Simon Squealer are on their way to the harbor in Sally's Subaru as we speak and squeak."

"Then, there's no time to lose!" Geronimo summarized, hitting his fist with the palm of his paw. "We can't let them steal our scoop!"

"Then we better get there!" Danny suggested. Then he turned to his Porsche. "Michelle, get into the house first. I'm chasing this scoop in Sebastien."

"Yes, sir!" The Porsche obeyed. She drove into the gates and made her way to the garage.

"Let's get a scoop!" Danny announced. He then approaches the passenger's side of the car.

"I'm driving him, right?" I asked.

"He's yours, ain't he?"

"Right..."

We hopped in our cars which we kept their engines running, u-turned with Geronimo in the lead and headed to the harbor by taking a shortcut through the highway, hoping to get there before Rassmaussen. As another adventure ends, a new one begins.

**The End. (Insert dramatic credits music here.)**

**A huge thanks to those who driven me to finishing this story, especially friends and family, and of course you guys the readers! I will not disappear, I will still be here rewriting a paragraph or two. Malaysianpro out!**


	22. (Alternate Ending) Why Do We Fall

**A/N: So, we knew in chapter 18 that Danny fell into the Dark Side and had a lightning showdown. He lost, and blacked out... But, what if he ****didn't and the voice never came to make him realize that he was a Jedi? What if...everything planned just fell apart?**

**NOTE: Disclaimers from previous chapters will be applied here. Lyrics used are from The National's Exile Vilify. No copyright infringement intended. **

* * *

**Why Do We Fall**

**(Alternate Ending)**

**McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas**  
**August 26, 2013**

Both Williams and I exchanged arguments as the rain poured heavily over our heads on the runway. "YOU WANT TO BRING SOMETHING UP FROM TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO? HAVEN'T YOU EVER HEARD OF THE EXPRESSION LEAVE THE PAST BEHIND?" I yelled at the other stretch of the runway.

"Haven't you, Danial? You seem to bring up your family to this fight to avenge them..."

My anger was at its melting point as he crossed the line. I snarled. "R'ARRGGHH!" I unleashed my supercharged fury by letting out a Force Storm out of my ten fingers, a stronger variant of the Force Lightning. At the same time, Williams too did the same move, and our powers battled at the center. The wind blew stronger as if we were at the middle of the ocean facing a whirlpool, the whole stretch of runway lit up by the lightning's light, and the colors mixed between my whitish-blue with his light purple.

It was me versus him in a lightning showdown, with his side of the powers came closer towards me. Over time, I became weak. I couldn't push the ball of lightning away, my powers decreased greatly in a few seconds. I kept pushing with groans, struggling to not get myself killed. But, Williams broke through, and gave his all and pushed the lightning ball into my face.

"AAARRRRGGGHHHH!" I screamed as the lightning ball touched me.

I almost blacked out, dragged along the runway for 50 meters. The right half of my face was burnt, most of my clothing was tattered and ripped, and my physical wounds were bleeding out. I felt weak and enervated, having myself use up most of my energy during the lightsaber battle and the lightning showdown. I panted over fatigue - my eyes barely opened to see Williams slowly taking his time walking towards me with his red lightsaber dragged on the tarmac, about to use it to stab through my heart.

**Exile...It takes your mind...**  
**Again...**

**Exile...It takes your mind...**  
**Again...**

**You've got sucker's luck,**  
**Have you given up?**

**Does it feel like a trial?**  
**Does it trouble your mind the way you trouble mine...**

I thought of Thea as I was lying there, regretting that I couldn't save her. I cried, muttering; "I'm sorry Thea...I'm sorry..."

* * *

**Geronimo's Perspective**

I had woken up, finding myself alone in the Computer Bar of The Centurion Lounge. I rubbed by jaw so the pain would go away after the hard uppercut that knocked me out. I tried to get up by propping myself on a desk, in the process I almost fell over due to disorientation.

Thea was nowhere near me, so I decided to find her. "Thea!" I called out loudly. With no answer, I proceeded to limp around the Lounge till I find her.

"THEA!"

**Exile...it takes your mind...**  
**Again...**

**Exile...it takes your mind...**  
**Again...**

I searched everywhere for her. Not even a single sight. Then finally when I got to the Premium Bar, there she was. Lying motionless on the carpeted floor, looking somewhat dead. Her vest was unzipped and had a bullethole on the abdominal section, indicating that she was shot. Her olive green shirt was covered in her own blood...

"THEA!" I shouted.

I kneeled by her side, almost panicking on what to do. As a trained agent, I checked if there was still a pulse at her neck.

I placed two fingers for a second to find that her heart was no longer beating. "No, no, no, no! Please be alive, Thea! Don't die on me now!"

**Oh, you'll miss so much...**  
**Have you given up?**

**Does it feel like a trial?**

Instinct and training told me to do CPR, so I topped a paw on the other and began to press down on Thea's chest repeatedly.

**Does it trouble your mind the way you trouble mine?**

"1, 2, 3, 4...C'mon!" I counted.

I dove in for a mouth-to-mouth, then came back up two seconds later. I resumed pushing down on her chest continuously while counting how many times I did it. That's when I noticed that she had a wireless earpiece worn in her ear. I took it off and wore it on mine, and began speaking into the mouthpiece for help from anyone who was connected to the same frequency.

"Hello? Is anyone out there? This is Interpol Special Agent Geronimo Stilton, please respond!" I identified myself. But as I did more CPR, there was no one to hear me. "I repeat, this is Agent Geronimo Stilton, requesting help!"

* * *

**Paulina's Perspective**  
**Concourse B**

We were ambushed by a dozen enemy personnel as soon as I flew the others up to the hole in the window. They were well prepared; they were equipped with jammers so our invisibility screens wouldn't work. We toppled some tables inside the fast food restaurant to use as cover as both factions exchanged fire. We were outnumbered, outmatched, and most of us already ran out of primary ammunition. Gunners Pamela and Nicky were down to their final ammoboxes of 200 rounds, while others are fending off with their Glock 18s in full auto, including myself.

**Exile...It takes your mind...**  
**Again...**

**Exile...It takes your mind...**  
**Again...**

"We can't keep this up! We've almost no ammo left!" Nicky yelled over the loud sound of gunfire.

**(You've got sucker's luck...Have you given up?)** "Specter One! Are you done with Phase Three? Echo-Two needs immediate backup! We're getting battered over here!" I demanded.

**(Does it feel like a trial?)** But Hussein's reply was beyond shocking. "No can do, Hawkeye," he said, his voice sounded grave. From the background, I could hear weapons being fire. "We were compromised; they knew we were coming so we got ambushed. Most of us are dead!"

I stopped firing. "WHAT!" I said in disbelief.

**(Does it trouble your mind the way you trouble mine?)** "YOU HEARD ME WELL, GODDAMMIT!" snapped Hussein under pressure, firing a few suppressive rounds from what it sounded like the machine gun of his fallen teammates. "Echo-Three went down fighting, alright?! It's just me and Khalid...Specters Three to Five are out. We've a dozen more to take care on our own, so I'm sorry that we can't aid you." Then I heard something that sounded like a stray round hitting a person near him in my earpiece. "KHALID! NO!" he yelled. Khalid was hit, and he went down as a hero. Then what happened next was unexpected. "D'AAARRRRGGGHHH!"

**(Does it feel like a trial?)** We all heard what happened; Hussein was shot. "HUSSEIN!" Pamela called out with a sense of worry towards the one who fell for her.

"That was a sniper round...pant...it penetrated straight through my lung...cough!" he said, almost unable to speak.

**(No, you're thinking to fast, you're like marbles on glass...)** "Stay there! We'll come and get you!" I told, replacing an empty magazine with a fresh one.

"Don't come for me...cough! Go help Danny and Thea!" he advised, trying to hold back the agonizing pain.

Honestly, I didn't want to leave an ally behind, this is why I made the decision to retreat. "I repeat, this is Agent Geronimo Stilton! I need immediate help!"

"Geronimo?!" I responded.

"Paulina? I need a defibrillator over here! Thea's down! I repeat, Thea's been shot!"

"Echo-Two! Retreat and regroup! We're aborting Phase Three! On to Concourse D to aid Geronimo!"

All of us, one by one jumped out of the broken window and into the dark storm while spraying hails of cover fire. While they all safely landed with a roll, I flew out in last place, hopped into the Solidad and drove off in the rain to Concourse D.

**Vilify...**  
**Don't even try...**

After a flash of lightning, Hussein said his final words as he was dying. "Pam...if you're hearing this...I just wanted to let you know...I love you."

Before Pam could say something back to him, the line went static. "Hussein? Hussein, do you copy?!" In assumption that he died, she cried her eyes out. Everyone else mourned, keeping quiet for the rest of the drive.

Feeling mad at myself, I banged on the steering wheel in frustration. "GAAHH!"

**Vilify...**  
**Don't even try...**

* * *

**My Perspective**

Williams was just standing right in front of me with his lightsaber pointed at the ground. The lack of energy made me continue to lie down and feel helpless, about to submit myself to be killed in his hands.

The lightning reverberated as he lifted up the red saber with his two hands, pointing down the edge to my heart, about to stab it directly.

But thinking of what he had taken away from me made me refuel myself, flooding myself with hatred all over again. He took my family, hurt my friends and made one of them turn his back on me...and he took Thea.

The anger and hatred gave me enough to quickly activate my lightsaber, hit Williams' aside as he moved it downward in a fraction of a second, activate the second blade and split the hilts. I gave Williams a Force Push that sent him away, and that gave me the time to get back up. I Force Sped to hem when he was stunned, and threw some strikes of my lightsabers with Dark Rage.

**You've got sucker's luck...**

_You killed my family... _I thought as the blades struck.

_You took away my two friends... _Another thought as he blocked my attack.

(**Have you given up?) **_You'll pay, Williams...you'll pay... _I thought again, engaging our sabers in a bladelock.

"This...IS FOR THEA!" I fend his saber off until it was thrown away from his grasp, landing down on the tarmac with the plasma blade partially underground. Unarmed, a golden opportunity to make the finishing blow was right in front of me.** (Does it feel like a trial?)** I dug the two sabers into his chest and through his heart, twisted them as I twirled back, and pulled them out.

I looked behind, watching Williams drop dead, thudding on the tarmac.

The good thing was, Williams was dead. The worse thing, I killed him in revenge. Revenge is not the Jedi way.

Him dead wasn't the solution. I could still feel the pain he caused me, and the flaming anger towards him still raged on, getting hotter and bigger. I just felt so mad, I dropped to a kneel screamed in the rain. "ARRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!"

**Does it trouble your mind the way you trouble mine...**

* * *

**Geronimo's Perspective**

**Does it feel like a trial?**

6 minutes gone - we tried the hardest we can to bring her back to life. Pandora brought the defibrillator charge up to 500 as I did CPR, but our efforts were useless. She still showed no signs of life.

We gave up, Thea was no more. The others gathered around her corpse, weeping over the tragic loss as I pulled her on my lap as I sat on the floor, crying about the grief. The storm kept coming and lightning kept flashing - as well as the thunder roared above the sky.

**Did you fall for the same empty answers again?**

* * *

**The following morning...**

**8.03 a.m.**

Since the FBI terminated all terrorists and saved the hostages last night, the airport was opened to only two C-130 Hercules aircrafts, one of them to transport the bodies of the Specters back to Malaysia to be buried. Pamela with a heavy heart took a final look at Hussein's remains before he and his team were shipped off, and all of us gave a respectful salute for their service and sacrifice outside the plane.

**Vilify...**  
**Don't even try...**

After the first plane flew off, we boarded the second C-130 with Thea's remains onboard, on our way back to New Mouse City for her to be buried.

* * *

**New Mouse City Cemetery **  
**24 hours later - 8.10 a.m.**

The service went smooth and well. Every friend and family attended - Grandpa Shortpaws, Aunt Sweetfur, even my crush, Patty Springs. Not to forget mentioning the Thea Sisters and Professor de Mousus.

(**Vilify...) "**FIRE!"

PAWH!

(**Don't even try...) **"READY! AIM! FIRE!"

PAHW!

**(Vilify...)** "READY! AIM! FIRE!"

PAWH!

That was the sound of the third and final shots taken by seven mice as a part of the 21-gun-salute. **(Don't even try...)** Carrying on, an Interpol Special Agent from the New Mouse City branch handed me the folded Mouse Island flag that used to cover Thea's casket. The agent saluted, and I saluted back.

After taking a glimpse at the casket before it was lowered, I gazed blankly at the sky to my left, imagining what might happen next. My vision trailed downwards to a small hill, about 90 yards away. At the top was a tree, fully grown and living. Inside its shade provided by the thick green leaves was a figure in a hooded robe, standing still as it faced us. I frowned to focus on its faces, and when I finally made it out, I was in for a bombshell.

Danny was the hooded figure stalking the funeral service. The right half of his face was burnt, and his eyes were phosphoric yellow with bloodshot areas around the iris.

Benjamin and Pandora noticed me with an eye-opened look, so they looked at my direction, and showed the same expression on their faces as I did.

* * *

**My Perspective**

I spied on the funeral service from afar so people wouldn't see me. I got here by hitching a flight on the landing gear of the C-130 and hid in the storage compartment when the wheels were retracted in. I came so I could give my final respect to Thea, and to leave a message.

I had became a Sith, unable to forgive myself for not being able to save her. Then and always will I be living in the darkness and the pain, isolating myself to protect others.

I had seen Geronimo spotted me after he was handed the flag. Soon after, so did Benjamin and Pandora.

**Vilify...**

I turned around and walked away before they could even make a move. I generated a voice message with the chip's ability, and sent them to the devices of Geronimo and the others.

* * *

**Geronimo's Perspective**

**The Rodent's Gazette**  
**10.00 p.m.**

Afterdropping off Benjamin and Pandora to their homes in my cheese-yellow Ford Fiesta ST, I decided to take a last look at Thea's office before I locked it up until someone else could take her place. (There probably won't be, Thea was one of a kind.)

My eyes shifted around, not even tired of seeing the pink walls and furnishings of Thea's office. This was were we had private talks, shared cheese together... Stuff I'll never forget. I sighed, then shut the door.

I gave the whole staff a day off, but not myself. I continued to walk the halls to my office so I could look for scoops by myself, just to get my mind off things.

I closed the door behind me when I got to the office, letting the dark stay by not turning on the lights. Some sunlight penetrated the curtains though, shedding a little light in the office.

I sat down by the desk in my comfy leather swivel chair, quickly I turned on my MacBook Air. It took a while for it to boot up, but as soon as it did, my wallpaper, a picture of Thea hugging me by the neck behind me displayed on the screen. It reminded me of our good times, thus a little more sorrow I became.

"Oh..." I spluttered, having my eyes almost tearing up as I covered my mouth.

I moved my finger on the trackpad so the cursor would hover above the Safari icon on the Dock. Just as I was about to click on it, the background dimmed, then a popup window in black with a message typed in white text appeared. As the text scrolled down, an audio message played. It was from Danny himself, to my surprise. This was what he said:

**_"Dear Geronimo,_**

**_I send this prerecorded message to you and your family to tell about where I disappeared to after what happened at McCarran, and my whereabouts in the future._**

**_Firstly, I'd like to thank you and the rest of the gang for protecting me in the last few days, and for being such great friends. I'm also apologizing to all of you because I couldn't save Thea when she was dying. If you were to blame anyone for it, it would be me. She was a great friend to me, it also felt like she was my own sister. You have my condolences about her death._**

**_After battling Williams, I went to see Thea's corpse where she was in The Centurion Lounge. But my hopes were cut short when all of you were there, crying over the grief. I was afraid to face you all, imagining you saying things about me not saving her with Force Heal._**

**_And I'm sorry to tell you that I've fallen to the Dark Side when I killed Williams in revenge. I'm now a Dark Jedi, always living and not letting go of the hurtful past that haunts me forever. I let it haunt me and let the unextinguished hatred take over me, that way I get to retain the power I have gained._**

**_I will disappear from the eyes of the world, living alone in isolation. I do this to protect others from my destructive nature, and to protect you as well. For that, don't try to search the world for me. Not any of my estates, not any of my secret retreats, not anywhere. Not even the secret base at Nye County. I've demolished them all using the Evac and Self-Destruct Protocol. If you wish to help me realize who I am, then don't. I cannot be helped, I want to stay this way for as long a I live._**

**_Send this message to the world to let all of them know that I've gone, before they question where HAVE I gone. This message will be available as an audio file on your desktop for you to use._**

**_Again, I'm sorry for your loss...and thank you for being such wonderful friends._**

**_From your friend always,_**  
**_To my new family forever,_**  
**_Danial Arif."_**

I immediately logged into Facebook from the MacBook. Coincidentally, the whole Crew (or what was left of it) was online in our chat group. I typed: _"Crew, meetup. At the Gazette, NOW."_

* * *

**Half an hour later...**

Everyone arrived individually by cab, Pandora being the last one because she lived at the other side of Rodent River.

I had everybody gather in from of me so we could begin our discussion.

"Is this about the voice message Danny sent us G?" Trap asked.

I didn't know he received the message too. "You got the message to?" I asked him back.

"I did too," Benjamin interrupted.

"Yeah, me too," Pandora added.

"How'd he sent them?" I asked again.

"I was going to update the status on our news blog on my phone, then when I unlocked the screen, this popup showed up along with the audio message," Benjamin explained.

Trap and Pandora with the same idea, they said: "What he said," while pointing at Benjamin in the middle.

"So what's the plan now?" Benjamin squeaked.

"We do the one thing he told us not to do. After we fulfill his requests in the message, we're going to look for him," I replied.

"Why would we do the thing he specifically told us NOT to do?" Pandora emphasized.

"Pandora, sometimes true friends won't listen to to each other for their own good. And he just says that so he wants to be found."

"We're still gonna find him?" said Trap.

"Yes, Trap. We will."

"When do we start?" asked Benjamin.

I took a moment to think about it.

"...We just did..."

* * *

**THE END.**


End file.
